A to do list widget on your iPhone home screen

A to do list widget on your iPhone home screen does one quiet thing well: it shows you what is still open every time you unlock the phone. No app to open, no screen to find. You glance, you remember, you move on. For a short list, that glance is often all the system you need.

Why a widget suits a short list

Most lists fail in the same boring way. You write things down, close the app, and never open it again. The list is fine. You just stopped looking at it.

A widget fixes the looking. Your home screen is the one place you see dozens of times a day whether you mean to or not. Put the list there and it gets read without any effort from you. It is a sticky note on the fridge, except the fridge is in your pocket.

It works best when the list is short. A widget has room for only a few lines. If you have forty open todos, the widget shows the first couple and the rest hide out of sight, which is the same as not having a widget. A short list fits. A short list also gets done.

How to add a widget on iPhone

The steps are the same for any app that offers a widget. On current versions of iOS, Apple describes it like this:

1. On the home screen, touch and hold a widget or an empty area until the apps jiggle.
2. Tap Edit in the upper-left corner.
3. Tap Add Widget.
4. Pick the app's widget, choose a size, then tap Add Widget.
5. Tap Done.

You can drag the widget to where your thumb and eyes go first. The top of the first home screen is the obvious spot. If you bury it on page three, you have built a very pretty drawer.

What to look for in a to do list widget

The best to do list widget is the one you stop noticing you rely on.

A widget is small, so every choice in it matters. A few things separate a useful one from a decorative one:

• It shows what is open, not everything. Finished items should be gone. A widget full of ticked boxes is a trophy shelf, not a list.
• It is easy to add from. The best moment to capture a todo is the second you think of it. A plus on the widget that takes you straight to typing saves the thought.
• The urgent things come first. If you can mark something as urgent, it should sit at the top, where the widget has room.
• It stays in sync. Add something on the widget and it should be in the app, and the other way round. A widget that lags behind teaches you not to trust it.
• It does not nag. The point of a glance is that it is yours. A widget should not come with a stream of banners to go with it.

Keep the list short enough to fit

A widget turns list size into something you can see. That is useful pressure. When the widget is full, the list is too long.

A few habits keep it in shape:

• One line per todo. "Call the dentist" fits. "Call the dentist about the thing from March and also ask about Tuesday" does not. Put the details in a note under the row.
• Check things off the moment they are done. A finished todo that stays on the list takes a slot from something real.
• Star only what is urgent today. If everything is starred, nothing is.
• Move the someday ideas elsewhere. The widget is for this week, not for the novel you might write.

If you want more on keeping a list this lean, the guide on a minimalist to do list goes through it.

What a widget will not do

Be honest about the trade-off. A widget only helps when you look at your phone. If you need something to interrupt you at 3 pm, a widget will not. That is a reminder, and reminders are a different tool. Apps built around dates and alerts, including Apple's own Reminders, handle that well. A widget is for the things you want in view, not the things that need an alarm.

The Very Simple Todo widget

Very Simple Todo has a home-screen widget built for exactly this glance. The medium size shows a new todo row and your next open todos, starred ones first. The small size is a plus. Either way, the plus takes you straight into typing a new todo, and tapping a todo opens it. The widget follows the list the app last loaded, and your list syncs with Apple or Google sign-in.

There are no reminder banners and no emails behind it. The app does not send notifications at all. The widget is the only nudge, and it only speaks when you look. If you use an AI agent such as Claude, it can connect to the same list and add to it, so something you asked for in a chat is waiting in your list, and on the widget once the app has loaded it.

Set it up once

Add the widget to your first home screen. Keep the list to what fits. Check things off as you go. That is the whole routine, and it is small enough to keep.

If that sounds like your kind of list, Very Simple Todo is a simple to do list app made for it: one row to add a todo, a big checkbox, a star for the urgent ones, a note under any row, and a quiet widget on your home screen. It is on iPhone today, costs $0.99 a month, and the first month is free.