By letting you see key info from your favourite apps at a glance, widgets make checking the weather, upcoming appointments, urgent tasks and more incredibly quick. And in macOS Sonoma, widgets are even more powerful and flexible.
Here are three ways widgets can do more in Sonoma – and the best apps to see it all in action.
Adorn your desktop
You can now put widgets right on your desktop to make them even easier to access. And when you open an app or window, your widgets automatically fade into the background so you can concentrate on the task at hand.
To add a widget, Control-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Edit Widgets. Click a widget to add it to an open space on your desktop, or drag it to place it in a specific spot. You can rearrange widgets at any time by dragging them.
Interact with widgets
You can now perform actions right on widgets. Mark a task as complete, play a song, turn on a light or run a shortcut – right on the desktop or in Notification Center. No need to open an app!
Add widgets from iPhone
With Continuity, you can use widgets for your favourite iPhone apps on your Mac. See live sports scores, turn on your car’s A/C, confirm a flight arrival and more.
Widgets for iPhone apps automatically appear in the widget gallery on Mac. They’ll update when your iPhone is nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network.
Try these Mac apps that offer outstanding widgets:
Things 3
Organize your life
Fantastical - Calendar
Reminders & Todo List
WaterMinder - Water Tracker
Daily Hydration Drink Reminder
Mercury Weather
Local Forecasts & Live Widgets
Lockera Widgets
Essential Desktop widgets
LookUp Dictionary: Learn Daily
Learn with word of the day
Dice by PCalc
The Best Random Numbers
OmniFocus 4
Accomplish More Every Day
Agenda - Notes meets Calendar
Organise your days
TickTick:To-Do List, Calendar
Planner, Reminders & Habit
Structured - Daily Planner
Visual Calendar & To-Do List
Streaks
The habit-forming to-do list
Kahoot! Play & Create Quizzes
Learn at school, home or work
Cardhop - Contacts
The contacts app you'll love
Tyme 3 - Time Tracking
Worked Hours & Timesheet
Kanban Board, To Do - Doneit
Daily planner, task tracker
CardPointers for Credit Cards
Earn more points & cashback
GoodTask
To Do List, Tasks & Reminders
Awesome Habits: Habit Tracker
Simple habit & goal tracker
lire
Full-text RSS Reader
Planny • Daily Planner
To do list, Focus, Teamwork
Triode - Internet Radio
Listen everywhere.
Controller for HomeKit
Your Smart Home Companion
Calory: Daily Calorie Counter
Macro Tracker • Food Diary
Money Coach My Budget Planner
Expense Tracker, Bill Manager
Noted: Record, AI-Transcribe
Take meeting notes and audio
Time’s Up! — Visual Timer
Focus timer & countdown clock
2Do
Checklist. Goals. Habit. Notes
Taskheat — milestone tracker
Task roadmap, goals & progress
SchoolOrganizer
Makes your school life easier
Movie Tracker: What to watch
TV Show finder & ratings
Get Sauce:Reverse Image Search
12 Different Search Engines
WilliWidgets
Customizable Widget Creator
Expenses: Spending Tracker
Spend Better, Live Better
GoodLinks
Save links, read later.
Tripsy Travel Planner & Guide
Trip, Itinerary, Holiday Plan
These Mac apps have widgets that are especially convenient on the desktop:
Weathergraph weather widget
Wind,rain,snow forecast&alert
BusyCal: Calendar & Reminders
To Do List. Planner. Schedule
Time Zone Pro
World clock for your contacts
Day One
Your journal for life
Paku for PurpleAir
Real-time Air Quality Widgets
Book Tracker - Reading log
TBR planner and bookshelf list
Weather mini
Your weather cards
iStatistica
Advanced system monitor
News Explorer
Your one-stop news center
MindNode – Mind Map & Outline
Mind Mapping, Brainstorm Ideas
FreeSpace
Utilities
MenuBar Stats
Advanced System Monitoring
Bear: Markdown Notes
Write naturally