How to add a habit tracker widget to your iPhone

01Before you start

You need a habit tracker app that includes widgets. The steps below are the same for any of them; the examples use Habbles, where the widgets are free and can be tapped to log a habit. Open the app once and add at least one habit, so the widget has something to show.

02Add a widget to the Home Screen

1. Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the icons jiggle.
2. Tap Edit in the top corner, then Add Widget.
3. Search for the app by name and tap it.
4. Swipe to choose a size. In Habbles, small shows two habits, medium shows four and large shows eight.
5. Tap Add Widget, drag it where you want it, then tap Done.

03Add a widget to the Lock Screen

1. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap Customize and choose Lock Screen.
2. Tap the widget area under the clock.
3. Find the app in the list and tap or drag a widget into place. The round one shows how many habits are done today; the wide one also shows what's next.
4. Tap Done.

04Tick off a habit from the widget

On widgets that support it, tap the habit itself. In Habbles, tapping a creature on the Home Screen widget logs the habit on the spot and its face changes from waiting to happy; the app doesn't open. Tapping a yes-or-no habit again undoes it, in case you hit the wrong one.

05Add a button to Control Center or the Action button

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center.
2. Touch and hold an empty area, then tap Add a Control.
3. Search for the app and choose its “log a habit” control, then pick which habit it logs.

06If the widget doesn't update

• Open the app once. Widgets read what the app last saved.
• Remove the widget and add it again after a big app update.
• Check Low Power Mode. iOS refreshes widgets less often when it is on.

07Which widget size should you choose?

Size decides how many habits you see and whether you can tap them. These are the sizes in Habbles; most habit trackers follow the same pattern.

If you only add one, make it the medium Home Screen widget on your first page. Four habits is what most people track, and it is the one you can tick from.

08Show one habit as a year of squares

A grid of squares, one per day, is the most motivating view for a single habit you care about: a workout, a language, a quit. To set it up:

1. Add the app's single-habit widget (in Habbles it is called Habit).
2. While the icons are still jiggling, tap the widget, then tap the habit name and choose the one you want.
3. Tap outside the widget, then Done.

To change the habit later, touch and hold the widget and choose Edit Widget.

09Save space with a widget stack

If your Home Screen is full, stack widgets of the same size on top of each other:

1. Touch and hold the Home Screen until the icons jiggle.
2. Drag one widget on top of another of the same size.
3. Swipe up or down on the stack to flip between them.

A stack of “today” and “one habit” gives you both views in the space of one. Touch and hold the stack and choose Edit Stack to turn Smart Rotate on or off.

10StandBy, iPad and Mac

• StandBy: when your iPhone is charging on its side, swipe to the widget view, touch and hold, and add the habit widget. It becomes a bedside “did I do it?” display.
• iPad: the steps are the same as on iPhone, and the larger widgets have room for more habits.
• Mac: on recent versions of macOS, iPhone widgets can be added to the desktop from the widget gallery when your iPhone is nearby.

11Which iPhones and iOS versions support this

Habbles itself needs iOS 26, so every feature above is available to anyone who can install it.

12Troubleshooting

• The app isn't in the widget list. Open the app once after installing it, then try again. Restart the iPhone if it still doesn't appear.
• The widget is blank or says there's nothing scheduled. Add a habit in the app, or check that today is one of its scheduled days.
• Tapping the widget opens the app instead of logging. Lock Screen widgets always open the app; only Home Screen widgets can log in place.
• The widget shows the wrong habit. Touch and hold it, tap Edit Widget, and choose again. This happens if the habit it was showing was deleted.
• It looks grey or flat. You're using a tinted or clear Home Screen style. Switch the icon style to Default to see full colour.

13How we made this

We build Habbles and wrote these steps from our own widgets on iOS 26. The steps for adding widgets are Apple's and are the same for every app; where something is specific to Habbles, we say so.

14Questions