A habit tracker widget with your goal photo on it
Most habit tracker widgets are a grid of ticks or a streak number. This one is a photograph of the thing you are working toward, covered by a frosted layer, with one more piece uncovered for every day you check in. A glance tells you what the habit is for and how far in you are.
The widget is free on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows 11, and it works the same way on each: you choose a journey of 7 or 30 days, the photo is split into one piece per day, and each check-in in the app uncovers the next piece on the widget too.
What the widget shows
Your photo, partly uncovered, and the day you are on, such as "Day 12 of 30". When the next check-in has not opened yet, it also shows when it will. Tap the widget and the app opens, ready for the day's check-in.
That is all. There is no streak counter on it, so there is nothing on your home screen waiting to fall back to zero. Miss a day and that piece stays covered while everything you already uncovered stays uncovered. There is more on why in the habit tracker without streaks.
On iPhone and iPad
Add it from the home screen in the small or medium size. Each widget shows one journey, and you choose which by pressing and holding the widget and picking Edit Widget. The medium size gives a wide photo room to be recognizable.
The countdown to your next check-in is on by default and can be switched off in the app's Settings. There is no Lock Screen widget on iPhone, and the lock screen section below covers what the app can put there. Needs iOS 17 or later.
On Android
Drop the widget on your home screen and it asks which journey to show before it places itself. You can change the journey later from the launcher without removing it, and you can resize it in both directions.
It redraws the moment you check in and refreshes on its own through the day. When the next check-in is less than a day away, the countdown on it ticks. Needs Android 8.0 or later. More on the Android app page.
On Mac
The Mac app has the same widget in small and medium sizes. Put it in Notification Center or straight on the desktop, where the goal sits behind your windows all day. Needs macOS 14 or later. The Mac page has the rest.
On Windows
On Windows 11 the reveal is available on the Widgets Board in small and medium sizes. The medium widget shows the photo, the journey title, the day and when the next check-in opens; the small one keeps the title, the day and an Open button, which opens the app. Pin one per journey if you run more than one. The Widgets Board needs Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, and you check in from the app itself.
The Windows app also has a mini window that stays on top of everything else while you work, which is there on Windows 10 too. There are step by step instructions for adding the Windows 11 widget, and the Windows page has the rest.
On your wrist
Apple Watch and Wear OS watches get a watch app and a complication that puts your progress on the watch face. Wear OS also has a tile with the photo on it. The watches show the day and the photo, and the countdown stays on the phone. See Apple Watch and Wear OS.
On the lock screen
Reveal the Dream has no lock screen widget on any platform. The widgets above live on the home screen, the Mac desktop and the Windows Widgets Board. What reaches the lock screen depends on the platform.
- iPhone. The countdown to your next check-in can sit on the Lock Screen as a Live Activity, with your journey name and day count beside it, and in the Dynamic Island on an iPhone that has one. Turn on Countdown on the Lock Screen in the app's Settings; it is off until you do. It appears when you open the app within about seven and a half hours of your next check-in, because iOS only lets an app start one while the app is open and ends it after about eight hours. It goes away when your check-in opens. Free.
- Android. Turn on Show countdown in notifications in the app's Settings, and a silent countdown sits in your notification shade once your next check-in is less than a day away. Whether it also shows on your lock screen follows your phone's notification settings. Free, and off until you turn it on.
- Mac and Windows. Nothing from the app appears on the lock screen. On a Mac the widget goes on the desktop or in Notification Center. On Windows 11 it goes on the Widgets Board, and the mini window stays on top of your work.
To see the goal photo itself on a phone's lock screen, set a screenshot of your reveal as the wallpaper. Here is how to put it there.
Why a widget works for a habit
A habit tracker you have to open is a habit tracker you have to remember. The widget sits on the screen you already look at dozens of times a day, so the reminder happens without a notification and without a decision. Something you glance at fifty times without trying does more quiet work than an alert you swipe away twice.
The photo matters for the same reason. A tick in a grid looks the same whatever the habit is for. A picture of the trip, the race or the finished room is the reason itself, and it gets a little clearer each day you show up.
Free and Premium
The widget is free on every platform listed above, along with one journey at a time and lengths of 7 or 30 days. Premium adds several journeys at once, so each widget can show a different one, plus custom lengths, rest days and more. Premium is here, and the free version keeps working whether you buy it or not.