Widgetsmith adds lock screen widgets, new photo features, custom URLs and more

iOS 16 brings support for adding widgets to your iPhone’s lock screen, and Widgetsmith is here to take that customization to the next level. Widgetsmith 4.0 is available now on the App Store, not only with lock screen widgets, but also with improvements to the widget editor, a ton of new widget features, and more.

Widgetsmith debuted back in 2020 along with the release of home screen widgets in iOS 14. The app, created by David Smith, quickly went viral when TikTok users crowned it the best way to “make your iPhone’s home screen aesthetic”. Since then, the app has received regular updates to further increase its versatility in creating home screen widgets.

Now Widgetsmith tackles Apple’s latest customization feature: support for adding widgets to your iPhone’s lock screen. With iOS 16, you can add widgets to your lock screen and customize things like font colors, wallpapers, and more.

By default, Apple offers widgets for many of its default apps. Just like the home screen widgets, Widgetsmith takes things to the next level. You can create an infinite number of custom widgets for your iPhone’s lock screen, ranging from things like photos, weather, time, step count, and more.

There are three different sizes of lock screen widgets supported by iOS 16, and Widgetsmith has options for all three. You can create text widgets to appear in the area just above the time on your lock screen, as well as circular and rectangular options below the time.

Widgetsmith also allows you to fully customize any of the widgets you create. You can change the font, the colors of the text and icons, themes for things like step counting and clocks, and more. Just like we saw with Widgetsmith’s home screen customization support, here’s where you can let off some steam.

Today’s update for Widgetsmith also includes some changes that will also benefit the home screen widgets. The widget editor has been redesigned to be more consistent and streamlined, making it easier to switch between different settings and customization options.

Widgetsmith 4.0 now also directly integrates David Smith’s other apps including Pedometer++, Wokouts++, CalZones and more. These can all be opened automatically when you tap on a relevant widget. Also, you can now attach custom URLs to widgets.

These custom URLs can be attached to a widget so that every time you tap on that widget, the URL will open. This fixes one of the biggest limitations of widgets, which is that tapping a widget can only take you to the app that created the widget.

Finally, Widgetsmith now also supports the ability to isolate the people in images from their background, as well as importing images with transparency. This means you can add widgets to your lock screen or home screen that are just the subject of an image without the original background. Schmidt explains:

You can now isolate the people displayed in a photo widget by removing the background. This allows for really cool effects when combined with a background image that matches the widget’s background color.

Also, you can drag and drop images from other sources into Widgetsmith, or load them from files that contain transparency, and your widget’s background color will now show through.

The release notes for Widgetsmith 4.0 from the App Store:

• An improved widget editor to make creating and configuring widgets easier and more intuitive.
• Widgetsmith offers a wide range of lock screen widgets in all new styles.
• Ability to isolate the people in images from their background and import images with transparency.
• A robust set of new tools that launch automatically in Widgetsmith when a widget is tapped. These are contextual for each widget. For example, if you tap a weather widget, the weather forecast for the selected location is displayed.

Widgetsmith is available on the App Store as a free download with an in-app subscription for $1.99 monthly or $19.99 annually to unlock the full experience.

Visit 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: