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How to Add a Widget to Your Android Home Screen, Step by Step

12 Aug 2026·4 min read·Appynox

To add a widget on Android, long-press an empty area of your home screen, tap Widgets, find the app in the list, then press and hold the widget you want and drop it onto the screen. That is the whole process on nearly every phone made in the last several years.

Below are the brand-specific quirks, how to resize and arrange widgets once they are placed, and the fixes for the two problems people hit most: the widget does not show up in the list, and the widget stops updating.

Adding a widget

The standard way

1. Go to your home screen and find a page with some empty space.
2. Long-press the empty space (not an icon) until a menu appears.
3. Tap Widgets.
4. Scroll or search for the app. Widgets are grouped by app name.
5. Tap the app to expand its widgets. Press and hold the one you want.
6. Drag it to where you want it and let go.

Some apps offer several sizes of the same widget. Pick the one closest to what you want; you can usually resize it afterwards.

Samsung One UI

Same steps, with one difference: the widget list has a search box at the top, which is faster than scrolling. Samsung also lets you tap a widget and then tap Add instead of dragging, which is easier on large phones.

Google Pixel and stock Android

Identical to the standard steps. On recent versions the widget picker shows a search field and a preview of each widget size.

From inside the app

Since Android 8, apps can ask the launcher to pin a widget directly. If an app has a button such as Add to home screen or Set widget, tapping it opens a confirmation from your launcher, and the widget is placed for you. This skips the widget list entirely and is worth trying first if the app offers it.

Resizing and arranging

• Resize: long-press the widget on the home screen, release, and drag the handles that appear on its edges. Not every widget supports every size; the launcher snaps to what is allowed.
• Move: long-press and drag. Dragging to the screen edge moves it to the next page.
• Remove: long-press and drag to Remove at the top of the screen, or long-press and tap Remove in the popup. Removing a widget does not uninstall the app.
• Duplicate: you can add the same widget more than once, for example two age counters with different precision.

When the widget is not in the list

Three usual causes:

1. The app was just installed. Some launchers take a minute to refresh their widget list, or need you to open the app once. Open it, then try again.
2. The app is installed on external storage. Android does not offer widgets from apps on an SD card. Move the app to internal storage in Settings, then Apps.
3. A third-party launcher. Almost all support widgets, but a few need you to enable them in their own settings.

When the widget stops updating

Widgets do not run their own clock. Android redraws a widget only when the system wakes the app that owns it, and the system is free to delay or batch those wake-ups to save power. This has been true since Android 12 and is more aggressive on some brands than others.

If a counter or clock widget seems frozen:

1. Open the app once. Most well-behaved widgets re-arm their update schedule on launch.
2. Go to Settings, then Apps, then the app, then Battery, and choose Unrestricted. On Samsung, also check that the app is not in the Sleeping apps list under Battery, then Background usage limits.
3. Restart the phone if it has been up for a long time. Widgets re-register after a reboot.

If you want a number that moves continuously rather than in steps, a widget is the wrong tool. A live wallpaper draws itself and does not depend on the system’s schedule.

A note on lock-screen widgets

Lock-screen widgets were removed from stock Android years ago and have been returning in limited forms on some devices. Support varies a lot by brand and version, so if you specifically want a widget on the lock screen, check whether your phone offers it before choosing an app for that purpose.

Adding the TimeBorn widget

TimeBorn’s widget follows the standard steps above, and there is a shortcut: tap Set on any face inside the app and it jumps straight to your launcher’s widget picker. Once placed, resize it like any other widget. All twenty-four faces are available as widgets, with precision from 2 to 7 decimals. Because widgets update in steps rather than continuously, TimeBorn caps widget precision at 7; if you want the last digits genuinely moving, that is what the live wallpaper is for. Both are free, with no ads and no network permission.