iPad owners have had giant widgets since 2021. iPhone owners never did, and the largest thing you could put on your Home Screen was a 4 by 4 square that covered about two thirds of the page. iOS 27 finally changes that. There is now an extra large widget size on iPhone, and it is big enough to fill an entire Home Screen page on its own.
The feature is getting a fresh wave of attention this week as people dig through iOS 27 and as pre-orders opened for the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable, whose big inner screen is the obvious home for widgets this size. If you have not tried it yet, it takes about ten seconds to set up.
The short version
- iOS 27, released September 14, adds an extra large widget size on iPhone. It measures 4 by 6 app slots, compared with 4 by 4 for the old large size.
- It works on any iPhone that runs iOS 27, not just the iPhone Duo or Pro Max models.
- Built in support covers apps including Calendar, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Weather, Shortcuts, Stocks, Music and Home.
- Third party apps can add it through a new WidgetKit size, and Widgetsmith already has.
How big is “extra large”?
An iPhone Home Screen is a grid of four columns and six rows of app icons. Widgets snap to that grid, and until now there were three sizes. The new one simply uses every row.
Apple does not label the new size in the interface. When you browse a supported app’s widgets, it just shows up as the last and biggest option. Reports also say it is portrait only on iPhone, which makes sense, because a 4 by 6 block has nowhere to go if the screen turns sideways.
Which apps support it
Support is limited to some of Apple’s own apps for now, and outlets testing iOS 27 have reported slightly different lists. These are the apps most consistently mentioned:
| App | What the extra space is good for |
|---|---|
| Calendar | Several days of events at once instead of just the next one or two. |
| Reminders | A long, checkable to do list without opening the app. |
| Notes | A pinned note or folder you can actually read from the Home Screen. |
| Photos | A full page digital photo frame. |
| Weather | Hourly and multi day forecasts together. |
| Shortcuts | Up to 16 shortcuts in one block, according to MacStories. |
| Stocks | A longer watchlist with charts. |
| Music, Home | Bigger playback controls and more smart home tiles. |
| TV, News, Mail | Listed by some outlets but not others. Check the widget gallery on your own iPhone. |
The Shortcuts widget is the one I would try first. Sixteen buttons on a single page effectively gives you a custom control panel, and it pairs well with the new Siri if you have it. If you are still stuck on the old assistant, we explained why the new Siri in iOS 27 sits behind a waitlist.
How to add an extra large widget
- Touch and hold an empty part of your Home Screen until the icons start to jiggle.
- Tap Edit in the top corner, then Add Widget.
- Pick a supported app, such as Calendar or Shortcuts.
- Swipe left through the sizes until you reach the biggest one.
- Tap Add Widget, drag it where you want it, then tap Done.
Because the widget uses every slot, any apps on that page will be pushed onto the next one. Most people will want to give the widget its own dedicated page, or put it in Today View so the main Home Screen stays tidy.
What about third party apps?
This is where it gets a little nerdy, but it matters for how fast the feature spreads. Apple’s developer documentation has listed an extra large widget family since iOS 15, but its own description says those widgets are only available on iPad and Mac. That landscape format never came to iPhone.
iOS 27 introduces a separate family, systemExtraLargePortrait, which Apple says can appear on the iOS Home Screen and in Today View. It first appeared in visionOS 26 and is now on iPhone, iPad and Mac with the 27 releases. Developers just have to add it to the list of sizes their widget supports.
.supportedFamilies([
.systemSmall,
.systemMedium,
.systemLarge,
.systemExtraLargePortrait // new in iOS 27
])Widgetsmith has already added support, and a handful of indie apps have followed, but most big third party apps have not shipped it yet. Expect that to change once the iPhone Duo is in people’s hands.
Six years of iPhone widgets
| Year | Release | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | iOS 14 | Home Screen widgets arrive in small, medium and large sizes. |
| 2021 | iPadOS 15 | Widgets anywhere on the iPad Home Screen, plus the first extra large size, iPad only. |
| 2022 | iOS 16 | Lock Screen widgets. |
| 2023 | iOS 17 | Interactive widgets with buttons and toggles, plus StandBy mode. |
| 2024 | iOS 18 | Dark and tinted Home Screen styles, and controls in Control Center. |
| 2025 | iOS 26 | Liquid Glass “clear” look and widgets in CarPlay. |
| 2026 | iOS 27 | Extra large 4 by 6 widgets on iPhone. |
Why the iPhone Duo is the real target
Extra large widgets work on every iPhone running iOS 27, including a regular iPhone 17 or an older iPhone 11. On a standard size phone screen, though, a widget that eats the whole page is a bit of a novelty. On the iPhone Duo’s 7.6 inch inner display, which shows two Home Screen pages side by side when unfolded, it starts to look like a proper dashboard: a calendar on one side, apps on the other.
| iPhone Duo | Details |
|---|---|
| Screens | 7.6 inch inside, 5.4 inch outside |
| Chip | A20 Pro, same as iPhone 18 Pro |
| Price | From $1,999 (256GB) up to $3,199 (2TB) |
| Software | Ships with iOS 27.1 |
| Dates | Pre-orders opened October 16, in stores October 23 |
One open question is how these widgets behave when the Duo is unfolded, and whether they stay 4 by 6 on the wider inner screen. Apple has not detailed that yet, and we will know once review units are out. In the meantime, if you are weighing the Duo, battery life is the bigger question, and we compared Apple’s 44 hour claim against how Android foldables actually perform.
For everyone else, the extra large widget is a small but genuinely useful change. Give it a page of its own, put your calendar or a grid of shortcuts on it, and you may find yourself opening fewer apps.
Sources and further reading
- UNILAD Tech: iOS 27 extra large widgets revamp the iPhone Home Screen
- 9to5Mac: iOS 27 adds extra large widgets
- MacStories: iOS and iPadOS 27 review
- Apple Developer: WidgetFamily documentation
- Widgetsmith: Extra large widgets are here
- Apple Newsroom: Apple unveils iPhone Duo
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