iOS 27 Brings a Major Widget Overhaul to Your iPhone Home Screen
Apple's iOS 27 is shaping up to be one of the most visually transformative iPhone updates in recent memory. Among its most talked-about new features is a sweeping expansion of Home Screen widgets, with over 15 brand-new additions that give users more ways than ever to personalize their iPhone experience. Whether you're a productivity enthusiast, a shortcuts power user, or simply someone who loves a clean and functional Home Screen, iOS 27 has something meaningful in store for you.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this widget update is what it signals about Apple's hardware roadmap. Many of the new offerings include extra-large widget sizes — a format that hints strongly at the anticipated iPhone Ultra, Apple's upcoming top-tier model expected to feature a significantly larger display than the current iPhone Pro Max lineup. If you've been waiting for a reason to go big, iOS 27 might be laying the groundwork right now.
What Are the New Widgets in iOS 27?
Apple has introduced a diverse lineup of new widgets with iOS 27, spanning both first-party apps and key system utilities. These aren't just cosmetic additions — they bring genuinely useful at-a-glance information directly to your Home Screen, reducing how often you need to open an app to get the data you need.
The new widget roster covers a wide range of categories, from task management and navigation to health tracking and media control. Below is a breakdown of what you can expect from iOS 27's expanded widget library.
Shortcuts Gets Extra-Large Widget Support
One of the standout additions is the new Shortcuts widget, now available in an extra-large format. This means you can pin more of your most-used automations directly to your Home Screen with larger, easier-to-tap buttons. For users who rely heavily on Shortcuts to automate daily tasks — from toggling smart home devices to launching multi-step workflows — this is a game-changing upgrade. The extra-large Shortcuts widget takes full advantage of screen real estate and is clearly designed with the iPhone Ultra's larger canvas in mind.
Extra-Large Widgets: A New Standard for Power Users
iOS 27 introduces the extra-large widget size as a new tier across multiple apps. Previously, iPhone widgets maxed out at a 2x2 or 4x2 grid configuration, but the extra-large format pushes that further, allowing for richer data displays and more interactive content in a single glance. This size was already available on iPad, and bringing it to iPhone — particularly ahead of the iPhone Ultra's launch — shows that Apple is aligning its software capabilities with its boldest hardware yet.
Extra-large widgets aren't just bigger versions of existing ones. In many cases, they surface additional information that smaller sizes simply couldn't accommodate. Think of it as having a mini dashboard right on your Home Screen, without needing to open a single app.
Why This Widget Update Matters for iPhone Ultra
The timing and nature of these widget additions are not coincidental. iOS 27 appears to be seeding the software foundation for features that will shine on the iPhone Ultra. Apple has historically used software updates to quietly enable capabilities that become more prominent once new hardware launches — and this widget expansion follows that exact pattern.
The iPhone Ultra is expected to feature a larger display than any iPhone that has come before it, making the extra-large widget format not just a nice-to-have but a practical necessity for filling that screen with meaningful content. When iOS 27 and the iPhone Ultra launch together, the Home Screen experience should feel cohesive, purposeful, and purpose-built for that larger form factor.
How to Make the Most of iOS 27 Widgets
If you're already running iOS 27, here are some tips for getting the most out of the new widget offerings right away.
- Long-press your Home Screen to enter jiggle mode, then tap the plus icon in the top-left corner to browse all available widgets, including the new iOS 27 additions.
- Look for the extra-large size option when scrolling through widget sizes for apps like Shortcuts. Not all apps support the new format yet, but Apple's own apps are leading the way.
- Use Smart Stacks to layer multiple widgets in a single space, letting iOS automatically surface the most relevant one throughout the day based on your usage patterns and time of day.
- Organize by workflow — consider dedicating a Home Screen page to a specific use case, such as productivity, fitness, or travel, and filling it with relevant iOS 27 widgets for a dashboard-style experience.
- Revisit your Shortcuts library to identify which automations deserve a spot on the new Shortcuts widget. Prioritize those you trigger manually several times a day.
iOS 27 Is Just Getting Started
We're still in the early stages of iOS 27's rollout, and Apple is expected to continue refining and expanding the widget ecosystem through subsequent developer and public beta releases. Third-party developers will also be able to take advantage of the new extra-large widget APIs, which means the selection of available widgets will grow substantially as the platform matures.
For now, the 15-plus new widgets introduced in iOS 27 represent a clear statement from Apple: the Home Screen is no longer just a grid of app icons. It's a living, dynamic interface that should work as hard as you do. With the iPhone Ultra on the horizon and iOS 27 in your pocket, there's never been a better time to rethink how you use your most personal device.
Stay tuned for our ongoing coverage of iOS 27 features as the beta cycle continues and Apple gets closer to a full public release this fall.