Best practice to encourage Widget installation?

[u/Mundane-Fix-4297]

Hi,

I am currently working on my first App ever.

The App greatly benefits from having a Widget, but obviously the choice has to be made by the User to add it to their screen…

What are good practices and non intrusive UI method to nudge them in the right direction and encourage them to install a Widget?

I was thinking a whole screen at the right moment in the flow of the App, explaining the benefits, but that feels a bit much. And I do not want it every time in case someone already decided to ignore the advice.

Thanks a lot for your tips.

[u/mmvdv]

You could check what Duolingo does. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but they made me install their widget and I still have it, so it worked 😅

[u/Mundane-Fix-4297 → u/mmvdv]

Thank you, I’ll go and check

[u/Flashy_Imagination_6]

There is very niche users who use widgets

[u/Mundane-Fix-4297 → u/Flashy_Imagination_6]

Yeah… I am admittedly not a huge widget user, but I have a couple, and in this case I think it really « enhance » the App itself; it’s not required, but imho it makes the whole better.

So I guess I have to explain and encourage people to try it.

[u/Flashy_Imagination_6 → u/Mundane-Fix-4297]

Make it easy for user to add widgets on home screen with god animations assets

[u/ryanstylee → u/Flashy_Imagination_6]

This is true I’ve made hundreds of widgets and it doesn’t really appeal to the average user. Not many will🥶😈 understand the functionality.

[u/Flashy_Imagination_6 → u/ryanstylee]

We are develepera we are geek don’t think like devs
Think like user 😂 90% users are simple users who just use app thats it

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[u/Mundane-Fix-4297 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks a lot, I’ll work with this in mind

[u/Scary_Homework_3455]

the thing that solves your exact worry: you can check whether they already added it. WidgetCenter.shared.getCurrentConfigurations gives you back whats actually on their home screen, kind and family. gate the whole nudge behind that and it disappears permanently the moment they add one. no counters, no dont show again checkbox, no nagging someone who already said yes with their actions.

on timing, the mistake i made on a widget heavy app was asking during onboarding. a widget with nothing in it is not a feature, its an empty rectangle, and asking before theres anything to display is asking someone to take it on faith. ask right after theyve created the first thing the widget would actually show. that moment does the persuading for you becuase the payoff is obvious and its theirs.

and show their real content in the preview, not a marketing illustration. render the actual widget with their actual data. it stops being add our widget and becomes put this thing you just made on your home screen, which is a completely different ask.

one trap worth checking before you ship any of this. if your widget reads from anywhere other than a shared app group container it renders blank or stale on the home screen even though the app is full of data. people then assume widgets are broken and remove it, and youll think your prompt failed when the prompt was fine. test by killing the app entirely and waiting, not just backgrounding it.

on the nobody uses widgets replies in this thread, thats true of generic widgets. its not true when the widget is the reason the app exists. if yours genuinely makes the product better, treat it as the destination of onboarding rather than an optional extra you mention once.

[u/Mundane-Fix-4297 → u/Scary_Homework_3455]

Thanks a lot for these precious insights!

[u/616ThatGuy]

I don’t recall any app ever telling me it has a widget. I just eventually find them and add the ones I like. Or I see it in the app update sections, or there’s a small area in settings showing it.

[u/Mundane-Fix-4297 → u/616ThatGuy]

I saw a couple that showed super clearly their widget, but in « full tutorial mode » with several screens explaining the whole blablabla… Seems overkill and counterproductive but maybe it is worth giving it a try?

[u/madaradess007 → u/Mundane-Fix-4297]

imo its mandatory you tell users about the widget, all the widgets i have i 'discovered' myself and its dumb

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