Homescreen Widget Apps Get Over 45 Million Installs on iOS

Over the past two months, iPhone users have shown a lot of interest in adding these useful shortcuts to their homescreens.

When Apple released iOS 14 two months ago, it first introduced homescreen widgets for the iPhone and iPad. According to Sensor Tower data, the top five widget apps were installed on approximately 15% of iPhones in the United States.

Installs in the U.S.

The five most popular homescreen widgets – Widgetsmith, Color Widgets, Photo Widget: Simple, WidgetBox, and Photo Widget – have collectively received 13 million iPhone installs in the U.S. App Store since iOS 14 publicly released on September 16. Installations peaked the following week, with 3.8 million downloads. In total, these five applications have been installed approximately 45 million times worldwide to date.

The Ecosystem of iOS Homescreen Icons Customization

In addition to homescreen widget apps, since the release of iOS 14, there have appeared custom icon apps offering traditional homescreen icon replacement.

The top five downloads include:

• Brass,
• App Icons,
• Icon Changer +,
• ScreenKit, and
• Icon Themer.

They have been installed 1.8 million times in the U.S. since September 16.

The Future of Homescreen Widget Apps

Widgets have been the standard on Android devices for over a decade. Over the past two months, iPhone users have shown a lot of interest in adding these useful shortcuts to their iPhone homescreens.

As the Apple device ecosystem continues to grow, developers have the opportunity to find innovative ways to meet this new consumer demand and potentially achieve greater engagement by expanding homescreen real estate.

Stay tuned with Software Focus!