Couple+Days Together Widget: Your Love Counter on the Home Screen
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Neither iPhone nor Android has a built-in days-together widget, so you need an app that provides one. Install the app, set your start date, then add its widget. On iPhone, touch and hold the home screen, tap Edit and then Add Widget, and choose the app. On Android, touch and hold the home screen, tap Widgets, and drag the app's widget into place. Couple+ has three widgets in small and medium sizes: your day counter, the streak you keep together, and both partners' moods side by side.
A days-together widget puts one number on your home screen: how long the two of you have been together. You see it every time you unlock your phone, which is the entire point. It is a small, daily reminder that does not ask anything of you.
This page covers why you need an app for it, how to add one on iPhone and Android, and what separates a good couple widget from a sticker with a number on it.
Why your phone does not have one built in
iPhone and Android both ship with calendar widgets, and both can count down to the next event. Neither counts up from a date in the past, which is what a days-together counter does. So every days-together widget comes from a third-party app: you install the app, set a start date, and add the app’s widget to your home screen.
That also means the widget is only as good as the app behind it. If the app counts from the wrong day, or only one of you can see it, the widget inherits the problem.
How to add a couple widget on iPhone
- Install the app and set your start date inside it. Connect with your partner if the app is shared.
- Go to your home screen and touch and hold an empty area until the apps start to jiggle.
- Tap Edit in the top corner, then Add Widget.
- Search for the app, or scroll to find it.
- Swipe to choose the widget and size you want, then tap Add Widget.
- Drag it into position and tap Done.
You can also add widgets to the Today View by swiping right from the first home screen, and to the lock screen from the lock screen’s customise menu, if the app offers a lock screen widget.
How to add a couple widget on Android
Android menus vary a little between phone makers, but the steps are close to this everywhere:
- Install the app and set your start date inside it.
- Touch and hold an empty area of the home screen.
- Tap Widgets.
- Find the app in the list and expand it to see its widgets.
- Touch and hold the widget you want and drag it onto the home screen.
- Resize it by touching and holding it, then dragging its edges, if your launcher allows.
When the widget will not update
Widgets are not live. The phone decides when to refresh them, to save battery, so a count can lag. If the number looks stale:
- Open the app once. This usually prompts the widget to refresh.
- Check low power mode or battery saver. Both can limit background refresh.
- On Android, check battery settings for the app. An app set to “restricted” may not update its widget.
- Remove and re-add the widget. This fixes most remaining cases.
If the number is off by exactly one rather than stale, it is probably not a refresh problem at all. It is the difference between counting the first day as day 1 or day 0, which the days together guide explains.
What a good couple widget shows
A number is the minimum. The better couple widgets answer the questions you would actually open the app for.
- The count, and since when. “1,638 days, since 14 March 2022” is more meaningful than a bare number, and it makes wrong start dates obvious.
- Something about today. A count is the same kind of information every day. A widget that also shows something that changes, such as how your partner’s day is going, gives you a reason to look.
- Something coming up. The next anniversary or milestone, with a countdown.
- The same view on both phones. If only one of you has the widget, it is a personal reminder. If you both do, it is shared.
Size matters more than style
Small widgets fit one idea: a number, or two faces. Medium widgets have room for a count plus context, such as the start date and the next milestone. Pick the size by what you want to glance at, not by what looks prettiest in a screenshot.
Widgets for long-distance couples
A widget does more work when you are apart. When you cannot see each other’s day, a small signal on the home screen, such as a count, a mood or a streak, stands in for the things you would pick up without trying if you lived together. See what helps long-distance couples for the rest of that picture.
Where Couple+ fits
Couple+ has three home screen widgets, each in small and medium sizes:
- Counter: the days you have been together, with your start date.
- Streak: the days in a row you have both shown up in the app. See couple streaks.
- Mood: today’s moods for both of you, side by side. See sharing moods with your partner.
They refresh on their own. Both partners see the same count from the same start date. Couple+ runs on iPhone and Android with the same features on each, and it is free to download.