Widgets in iOS are a strange thing. On the one hand, they provide the necessary information, for example, the weather forecast, and are even drawn quite nicely, on the other hand, they are not interactive. Tapping on the Apple Music widget doesn’t give you quick access to music controls or playlist scrolling, and it just opens the corresponding app on the iPhone. They say that in iOS 16 widgets will change and become better, but for now it will have to wait. Sometimes widgets do not update or are not displayed at all on the smartphone screen. Don’t give up on widgets! We’ll show you how to fix them.
The iPhone weather widget not updating
The weather forecast on the iPhone is one of the most popular, but sometimes it starts to fail: the forecast is not displayed, and the temperature or the widget shows outdated data. What can be done?
- Go to Settings, and select “Privacy”.
- Select Location Services and make sure the toggle is enabled.
- Scroll down and tap Weather.
- Select the item “When using an application or widgets” – so the widget will update the forecast not only when you enter the Weather application itself, but also on the Home screen, where it is located.
I strongly recommend that you also enable “Exact geolocation” in this paragraph so that the widget determines not only the city but also the area where you are.
How to enable background refresh on iPhone
Another reason why the widget does not work or displays incorrect information is that background app refresh is disabled. This feature saves battery power, but it prevents apps and their widgets from receiving new data in the background.
- Go to Settings.
- Select General, then Content Update.
- Make sure Wi-Fi and Cellular Data is enabled under Content Update.
- Then find in the list the application whose widget does not work correctly and move the slider to the active position.
Please note that not only Weather works this way, but many others, including banking applications, App Store widget,s or your operator’s widget that displays balance data.
Widget stopped working on iPhone
Often the reason that the widget does not start may be an outdated version of the application. Often this happens if you skip 2-3 updates or do not install updates for several months. If the widget doesn’t work, just go to the App Store and check for available app updates, then install them.
It is worth noting that the widget may stop launching or updating due to the enabled battery saver mode: when power saving is turned on, some notifications stop coming, the processor speed decreases, and background refresh is turned off. So, charge your smartphone and turn off power saving.
Widget not working on iPhone
In addition, charging your iPhone can also save traffic. A useful feature helps you when you travel: it cuts down on your internet usage so you don’t overpay. Or, in the end, if you do not have much traffic and need to save it somehow.
- Open Settings, and select Cellular.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Move the “Data Saver” switch to the inactive position.
Also, pay attention to the fact that the iPhone is able to save traffic when working with Wi-Fi – because of this, widgets may also stop working correctly.
- In Settings, select “Wi-Fi”.
- Click “i” next to the active connection.
- Turn off the slider next to Data Saver.
Thus, the iPhone will begin to spend more traffic on updating data, widgets will be loaded even with a poor connection. And because of data savings, sometimes messages are not sent to iMessage.
How to customize widgets on iPhone
- Remove the widget from the Home screen, re-add it, or try resizing it to a larger size.
- Unlock iPhone for correct work. On the lock screen, some widgets may not work when you swipe the screen to the right, due to which information is not displayed.
- Give the necessary permissions to the application with the widget: in Settings, select the desired application and grant access to the location, background update, and cellular data.
- If the widget does not work correctly, just click on it, enter the application, and exit back. After that, it should update.
- Try replacing one widget with another. For example, Apple’s weather forecast can be replaced with a more informative “Weather” widget from Yandex.
- Restart your iPhone or do a factory reset.
