Budget App With a Widget: What It Should Show

A budget app with a widget puts the one number you actually need, how much you have left to spend, on your phone's home screen, so you see it every time you unlock instead of only when you remember to open the app. The best ones also let you tap straight from the widget into logging a purchase, which keeps that number honest.

What should a budget widget show?

Apple's own description of widgets is that they give you timely information from your favorite apps at a glance. For money, "at a glance" means one answer, not a dashboard squeezed into a square. A useful budget widget answers three questions without a tap:

• How much is left? One amount for the rest of this pay period, after bills.
• Am I on pace? A simple signal that says whether you're spending faster than the period allows.
• How long does it have to last? Days left, or better, a per-day amount.

Anything beyond that (charts, long transaction lists, five budgets at once) gets too small to read on a phone. A bigger widget can earn a short list of what's coming up next, like rent or a paycheck due before the period ends.

The second job is getting you into the app fast. A widget that opens straight to "add a purchase" saves a few taps each time, and a few taps is often the difference between logging something and forgetting it.

Does seeing your balance more often actually help?

There's decent research on why attention matters, with one honest caveat: it's about bank accounts, not budget apps, and it doesn't prove a widget will change anyone's spending.

Economists Victor Stango and Jonathan Zinman used survey questions as a nudge to make overdraft fees more top of mind. They found that individuals who face overdraft-related questions are less likely to incur a fee in the survey month, and that repeated surveys built up attention that reduced overdrafts for up to two years. The people in the study avoided overdrafts by making fewer low-balance debit purchases and cancelling automatic recurring withdrawals.

A second study, by Arna Olafsson and Michaela Pagel, looked at how often people log in to their financial accounts. Attention went up when income arrived and was positively correlated with cash holdings and liquidity, is negatively correlated with consumer debt holdings. In other words, people tend to look when the news is good and look away when it isn't. The authors call this an "ostrich effect" and conclude it's more widespread than previously thought.

That's the case for a widget in one line: it shows you the number whether or not you feel like looking. You don't have to decide to check.

How do I add a budget widget to my iPhone?

Apple's steps for the Home Screen:

1. Touch and hold a widget or an empty area until the apps jiggle.
2. Tap Edit in the upper-left corner, then Add Widget.
3. Pick the app's widget, choose a size, then tap Add Widget.
4. Tap Done.

For the Lock Screen, which needs iOS 16 or later, touch and hold the Lock Screen until Customize appears, tap Customize, then Add Widgets. Tap or drag the widgets you want, swipe down from the widgets list when you're finished, and tap Done.

How do I add one on Android?

From Google's Android help:

1. On a Home screen, touch and hold an empty space.
2. Tap Widgets, then find the app and tap it to see its widgets.
3. Touch and hold a widget, slide it where you want it, and lift your finger.

To resize it, touch and hold the widget and lift your finger. If it can be resized, an outline with dots appears; drag the dots, then tap outside the widget. Google notes that some of these steps only work on Android 14 and up, so the menu names on your phone may differ a little.

Does a budget widget need my bank login?

Not necessarily. If an app gets its numbers by linking to your bank, its widget depends on that connection. But a widget can just as easily show a number the app already worked out from what you've logged yourself: your income, your scheduled bills and the purchases you've added. If you'd rather not link an account at all, see how to budget without linking your bank.

One privacy point worth checking either way: some Lock Screen widgets keep showing their numbers while the phone is locked. SimplifyPocket's does, so anyone who can see your Lock Screen can see what's left. If that bothers you, keep the widget on the Home Screen instead.

How SimplifyPocket's widget works

SimplifyPocket's widget shows Left to spend: your income this cycle (received plus scheduled paychecks still due) minus your expenses (what you've spent plus scheduled bills still due). It's the same number as the top of the app's dashboard, worked out for the pay period you set. Here's what it shows:

• The amount, a pace pill and the time left. "On track", "Spending fast" or "Expenses exceed income", plus days left and a per-day amount.
• Several sizes on iPhone. Small, medium and large on the Home Screen. The medium one adds Say it, Scan and Pocket buttons; the large one adds your upcoming scheduled transactions and a couple of your budgets.
• Lock Screen widgets on iPhone. A circle gauge, a rectangular and an inline widget, plus a separate mic circle that opens voice entry.
• A resizable widget on Android. Pick a size from the widget list, then resize it any time: the layout changes from a 1×1 ring of what's left up to a 4×3 view with upcoming items. Tapping the 1×1 ring or the mic opens voice entry.
• Tap to log. Tap Say it and the voice sheet opens. Once you've allowed microphone access, it starts listening straight away, so you can say "twelve dollars lunch" and check the entry before it's saved.

A few honest details:

• It needs income to show a number. Until you've added income, it asks you to add it instead.
• It's fed by the app. The widget never contacts SimplifyPocket's servers itself; the app hands it the latest numbers whenever they refresh. The days-left count still ticks down on its own after midnight.
• Signing out clears it. The widget switches to "Sign in to see what's left", so no amount is left on your screen.

If you want to know what the number means in practice, read how much can I spend until payday. If keeping your log up to date is the hard part, how to remember to track expenses covers the habit side. Everything else the app does is on the features page.

Try it free

SimplifyPocket is on iPhone and Android. Add the Left to spend widget, tap the mic to log a purchase, and see what's left without linking your bank. Try it free for 3 days, then $2.99/month or $14.99/year.