To add a vision board widget to an iPhone, touch and hold an empty part of the Home Screen, tap the plus button, search for the app holding your board, choose the large size, then tap Add Widget. The photo appears between your apps and updates without opening anything.
The five steps
- Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the icons jiggle.
- Tap the plus button in the top corner. This opens the widget gallery.
- Search for the app that holds your board, then tap its name.
- Swipe between sizes. Large suits a collage, medium suits one strong photo.
- Tap Add Widget, drag it to the first page, then tap Done.
If the app does not appear in the gallery, open it once. iOS only lists widgets from apps that have been launched at least once since installing.
Choosing a photo that still reads at widget size
A vision board built for a wall does not survive being shrunk to a few centimetres. Three things make the difference:
- One subject, not twenty. A grid of fifteen images becomes visual noise. A single photograph you have an emotional reaction to works better than a mood board.
- Keep the subject centred. Widgets crop the top and bottom of tall photos, so anything important near an edge disappears.
- Avoid busy backgrounds. The widget sits on your wallpaper, competing for attention with your app icons. Contrast helps it register in the half second you actually look.
Home Screen or Lock Screen
Lock Screen widgets are small and rendered without colour, so a photo board cannot live there. Put the image on the Home Screen, and reserve the Lock Screen for a number or a few words: days remaining, a streak, or one line you want to read before you unlock.
Most people look at their Lock Screen far more often than their Home Screen. If your goal needs frequency more than beauty, the Lock Screen is the stronger placement even with its limits.
Making it work past the first week
The widget is the easy part. What decides whether it changes anything is whether you still notice it in three weeks, and by then most people have stopped seeing it, the way you stop seeing a poster in your own hallway.
Two habits help. Change the image when it stops meaning something, rather than leaving it up out of inertia. And attach one small action to the goal, so the widget reports on something that moves instead of being decoration.
Common questions
Can I put a vision board on the Lock Screen?
Not usefully. Lock Screen widgets are small and monochrome, so a collage becomes an unreadable grey square. Keep the photo on the Home Screen and use the Lock Screen for a word or a number.
Which size should I choose?
Large for a photo with several elements, medium for one strong image with a line of text. Small crops hard and rarely suits a board.
Why is my photo cropped?
Widgets have fixed proportions, so tall photos are cut at the top and bottom. Pick an image where the subject sits in the middle, or crop it before adding it.
Do widgets drain the battery?
No. iOS controls when a widget refreshes rather than letting it run continuously, and a photo with a number costs very little.
Vision builds these widgets for you, on iPhone. See how it works.