Nam Tran

Posted on Jan 26

Introducing Home Screen Widgets in PhoneCleanKit

#ios #phonecleankit #storagemanagement #widget

Countdown events, track time, monitor storage, and stay focused — all from your Home Screen.

We are excited to announce that PhoneCleanKit now includes four Home Screen Widgets to enhance your daily iPhone, iPad experience. What started as a storage cleaner has grown into a toolkit you can use every day.

Why We Built Widgets

PhoneCleanKit helps you find similar photos, large files, screenshots, and more. But we wanted to give you more reasons to keep the app on your device beyond occasional cleanups.

With these widgets, PhoneCleanKit becomes part of your daily routine — not just something you open when storage runs low.

Four Widgets for Everyday Use

Storage Widget

Monitor your iPhone/iPad storage at a glance. See your storage percentage with a clean circular progress ring and how much free space you have left. Tap the refresh button to fetch fresh data instantly, or tap the widget to open the app and start cleaning.

Available in small, medium, and large sizes.

Countdown Event Widget

Never miss an important date. Set countdowns for birthdays, holidays, project deadlines, vacations, or any event that matters to you. Watch the days tick down right from your Home Screen.

Flip Clock Widget

A beautiful retro-style clock for your Home Screen. If you appreciate classic design, this widget brings that nostalgic flip clock aesthetic to your iPhone. Simple, elegant, and always on display.

Pomodoro Timer Widget

Stay focused with the Pomodoro technique. Start a 25-minute focus session directly from your Home Screen. Perfect for work, study, or any task that needs your full attention. No need to open the app — just tap and focus.

Interactive Widgets: The iOS 17+ Game Changer

Before iOS 17, widgets were essentially static displays. Tapping anywhere on a widget would simply open the app. You could not interact with individual buttons inside the widget.

Starting with iOS 17, Apple introduced interactive widgets powered by App Intents. This means buttons inside widgets can now perform actions directly without launching the app.

In PhoneCleanKit, we use this for our Refresh button on the Storage Widget and the Start button on the Pomodoro Timer. When you tap them, the action happens immediately. No app launch, no interruption to what you are doing.

Here is how simple it is to create an interactive button with App Intents:

struct RefreshStorageIntent: AppIntent {
    static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Refresh Storage"
    static var openAppWhenRun: Bool = false  // Key: stays on Home Screen

    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
        return .result()
    }
}

Then in the widget view, just attach the intent to a button:

Button(intent: RefreshStorageIntent()) {
    Image(systemName: "arrow.clockwise")
}

The system handles the rest. One tap and the action completes right from the Home Screen.

How to Add the Widgets

Long-press on your Home Screen until apps jiggle
Tap the + button in the top corner
Search for "PhoneCleanKit"
Choose your preferred widget: Storage, Countdown, Flip Clock, or Pomodoro
Select your preferred size
Tap Add Widget

Try It Today

All four widgets are available now in PhoneCleanKit. Download the app and add them to your Home Screen to make your iPhone more useful every day.

PhoneCleanKit

Also available: DiskCleanKit for Mac — clean up your Mac storage with the same simplicity.

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