Add a widget to your Home Screen

Widgets show your countdowns without opening the app: on the Home Screen, the Lock Screen, and in StandBy on a bedside iPhone.

Add a Home Screen widget (iOS 17 and later)

1. Touch and hold an empty area of your Home Screen until the apps jiggle.
2. Tap Edit at the top left, then Add Widget (on older iOS versions, tap the +).
3. Search for Countdown.
4. Swipe through the sizes, then tap Add Widget.
5. While the apps are still jiggling, tap the widget to choose which event it shows.

Add a Lock Screen widget

1. Touch and hold your Lock Screen, then tap Customise.
2. Choose the Lock Screen, then tap the widget area below the clock.
3. Find Countdown and add the widget you want.

The widgets

• Next Event shows your soonest countdown and is free on the Home Screen.
• Single Event pins one event you choose, and doubles as the Lock Screen widget.
• Calendar Countdown follows the next event in a calendar you pick.
• Next 4 Events shows your next four at once.
• Live Countdown ticks in real time: see The Live Countdown widget.

Everything beyond Next Event is part of Premium. For a side by side view of the whole line-up, see Widgets: every type at a glance.

Choosing what a widget shows

Most widgets can follow your next event automatically or pin one event you choose. Tap the widget while editing the Home Screen to set it, and pick a calendar or category to draw from if you use them.

If a widget looks stuck or empty, see Widget not appearing or blank.