Key Takeaways
- iPhone and iPad widgets are accessible by swiping right on the home screen, and you can edit them by tapping "Edit" at the bottom.
- The battery widget lets you see charge levels for all connected Bluetooth devices — including AirPods, other headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and Apple Watch — at a glance.
- You can display your battery percentage permanently in the top-right corner via Settings > Battery > Battery charge in percent.
- To add widgets, tap and hold on any home screen, then tap the Plus icon in the top-left corner.
- The Siri suggestions widget is highly recommended: it intelligently shows the app you are most likely to need at any given moment based on your usage patterns.
- Placing the Siri suggestions widget three times on the second iPhone screen keeps the first screen fixed for your most-used apps and lets Siri handle context-aware suggestions on screen two.
- On the iPad, the Siri suggestions widget can be placed on the first page; however, only two of three widget slots may fill with suggestions, while a third may show "no suggestions."
- Apple CarPlay users benefit from keeping navigation apps (e.g. TomTom Go) fixed on the first home screen page so the layout does not change unexpectedly.
- The app library on the last home screen page is sorted into categories automatically by Apple and provides a fallback for finding any installed app.
- Using Siri suggestion widgets reduces the time needed to find frequently used apps, especially when you have many apps spread across multiple pages.
Introduction
Nice to have you with us again for another episode of Digital 4 Productivity and today a small but, in my opinion, very fine tip on the subject of the iPhone.
Something that very few of you have probably actively used so far are the widgets. You can access these widgets on one side by swiping from the left to the right on the iPhone home screen. Then the widgets that you see there appear and then there is Edit at the bottom.
And one widget that I can highly recommend, if you go to Process, you can add widgets here with the plus sign in the top left-hand corner, is the battery widget. The battery widget has the charm for you that you can always see how much your Airpods are charged, for example, if you also have other Bluetooth devices connected there, be it other headphones or Bluetooth speakers, for example. So you can always see what the battery level is. You can also see how much power is left in the AppleWatch. Of course, it's exactly the same with the iPad. So I find this battery widget theme extremely practical. Incidentally, you can always take this opportunity to go to Settings and then Battery. And under Battery there is a tick at the top for Battery charge in percent. You will then always see the percentage of your iPhone / iPad battery charge at the top right. But in addition to this, this budget is quite good. But what you can do beyond that, and this is the main idea of this podcast episode, what you can do if you just tap and hold on one of your screens and then you can also go to Plus at the top left. That's where the widgets go and the one that I highly recommend you do is the Siri related recommendations. And if you press on it, there are the stacks, the clock then depending on which application you have, and there is then, among other things, the topic of Siri suggestions.
Set up Siri suggestions
And if you go to Siri suggestions, then I would go straight to the first suggestion on the iPad. There you have two rows of A4 icons are 8 icons and you can put that on any screen. And what I did, I put this widget with the Siri suggestions three times on the second screen of my iPhone. So what's the idea? When I'm there on the first page of my iPhone, I have arranged myself, the app that I use regularly. On the second page, I have nothing but three times practically this Siri widget. And the cool thing is that this Siri widget is so smart that it practically always displays the application that you last opened and that you really need at that moment. And against this background, especially if you have several or many pages, many applications on your iPhone, it is totally ingenious to set up the first page so that you always have the most important applications to hand, especially in the car, whenever you have Apple Carplay, your navigation system, I use TomTom Go for example. That is always fixed. Especially in the car, I always find it important that this doesn't always change. That's why I wouldn't put the widgets on the first page - but on the second page. You can always tell by the fact that the lettering there is not white but black, otherwise it looks exactly the same. And the bottom bar is always finished. And then on the third, fourth page, I always have the things that I have. And on the last page you have the app library, which is sorted by... by categories that Apple considers useful.
Incidentally, you can also do this on the iPad. My experience is only that on the iPad I have the widgets on the first page. I have the Siri suggestion widget on there twice. My idea was to put it on three times so that you always have the top line with it. In my case, it's just that it only ever fills two of these widgets. For the third one on the iPad, it always says I have no suggestions. On the iPhone, it always fills three widgets for me.
Conclusion
So just give it a try. So perhaps this is a little tip on how you can access applications on the iPhone that you need more frequently more quickly using the Siri suggestions widget.
Yours, Thorsten Jekel
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I access widgets on an iPhone?
You can access widgets on an iPhone by swiping from left to right on the home screen. The widget panel appears, and you can tap "Edit" at the bottom to add or remove widgets.
What is the battery widget and why is it useful?
The battery widget displays the charge level of your iPhone and any connected Bluetooth devices — such as AirPods, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, or Apple Watch — all in one place. It is useful because you can check remaining battery life for multiple devices without opening any app.
How can I always see my iPhone battery percentage?
You can permanently show the battery percentage on your iPhone or iPad by going to Settings, then Battery, and enabling the "Battery charge in percent" option. The percentage will then appear in the top-right corner of the screen at all times.
How do I add a widget to my iPhone home screen?
To add a widget, tap and hold on any home screen until the icons begin to jiggle, then tap the Plus icon in the top-left corner. From there you can browse and add available widgets, including the battery widget and Siri suggestions.
What is the Siri suggestions widget?
The Siri suggestions widget is an intelligent widget that automatically displays the apps you are most likely to need at a given moment, based on your past usage behaviour. It adapts dynamically so that the most contextually relevant app is always shown without you having to search for it.
How should I organise my iPhone home screens using widgets?
A recommended approach is to keep your most-used, fixed apps on the first home screen page, and place the Siri suggestions widget — ideally three times — on the second page. This way your primary apps are always in the same place while Siri dynamically fills the second screen with context-aware suggestions.
Why is a fixed first home screen page especially important for Apple CarPlay users?
For Apple CarPlay users, having a fixed first home screen page ensures that navigation and other driving-relevant apps — such as TomTom Go — are always in the same position. Keeping this page static prevents confusion while driving, when you need quick and predictable access to apps.
Can I use the Siri suggestions widget on an iPad as well?
Yes, the Siri suggestions widget works on the iPad too. You can add it to the first home screen page, though the experience may differ slightly — on the iPad, placing the widget three times may result in only two slots being filled with suggestions, while the third shows "no suggestions."
How many Siri suggestions widget slots fill up on the iPhone versus the iPad?
On the iPhone, all three Siri suggestions widget slots are typically filled with app suggestions. On the iPad, only two out of three slots tend to fill; the third slot often displays a "no suggestions" message instead of an app recommendation.
What is the app library on the iPhone?
The app library is found on the last page of your iPhone home screen and automatically organises all your installed apps into categories that Apple determines. It provides a searchable, categorised overview of every app on your device without you needing to place them manually on a home screen page.
Tools & Resources Mentioned
- iPad – Siri suggestions and battery widgets work on the iPad in the same way as on the iPhone
- TomTom Go – navigation app mentioned as an example of a fixed, always-present app on the first home screen page for Apple CarPlay use
- Apple CarPlay – in-car system where a stable, fixed home screen layout is particularly important for quick app access while driving
- AirPods – example of a Bluetooth device whose battery level is visible in the battery widget
- Apple Watch – example of a device whose remaining battery charge is displayed in the battery widget
