Widgets, complications, and Live Activities

Easily build widgets and make them available in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS using the WidgetKit framework and the widget API for SwiftUI. Now you can use WidgetKit to create widgets for the iPhone Lock Screen, as well as complications in watchOS. And starting with iOS 16.1, you can create Live Activities to deliver timely updates.

iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch side by side, each displaying different widgets

What’s new

Widgets are becoming even more powerful in even more places. Now you can use WidgetKit to build support for interactivity and animated transitions, so people can take action right in your widget. Once you rebuild for iOS 17, with just a few simple changes your existing widgets will look great in StandBy on iPhone, on the Lock Screen on iPad, and on the desktop on Mac. With SwiftUI, the system adapts your widget’s color and spacing based on context, extending its usefulness across platforms.

Live Activities built with WidgetKit and ActivityKit are now available on iPad to help people stay on top of what’s happening in your app in real time, right from the Lock Screen.

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iPhone Lock Screen

With widgets in iOS 16, you can let people quickly glance at the latest information from your app on the iPhone Lock Screen.

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iPhone showing the lock screen with a fitness widget

Home Screen

You can also provide the latest information from your app on the Home Screen of iPhone and iPad.

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iPhone showing the home screen with widgets

Smart Stacks

Smart Stacks are sets of widgets that use on-device intelligence to surface the right widget at the right moment based on factors like time, location, and activity. Even widgets that haven’t been manually added are suggested in Smart Stacks based on past behavior and on intent donations for new events.

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Animation featuring Smart Stack
Apple Watch with a multi-complication watch face.

Rich complications

In watchOS 9, you can provide timely, relevant information with full-color images, text, and dynamic gauges on more than a dozen Apple Watch faces using WidgetKit.

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Live Activities

Get started with Live Activities to help people stay on top of what’s happening in your app. ActivityKit lets your app provide live updates through glanceable experiences powered by WidgetKit and SwiftUI — right on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.

Learn more

iPhone showing the lock screen with a Live Activity displayed

Tools and resources

Use Xcode and these resources to build widgets and complications.

Download Xcode