Widgets¶
Widgets put your listening on the home screen: your plays today, your streak, and your top artists, tracks and albums. Tapping one opens Musicat.
They need you to be signed in with a music service connected. Until then the widget says which of the two is missing.
What you can add¶
| Widget | What it shows | iPhone | Android |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Plays or minutes, next to what you listened to before, with an optional chart | Small, medium, Lock Screen | 2×2, and 4×2 as Today (wide) |
| Streak | Days in a row with something played, and your record | Small, Lock Screen | 2×2 |
| Top artists | Your most played artists, with a photo of number one | Small, medium, large | 2×2, 4×2 as (wide), 4×4 as (large) |
| Top tracks | Your most played tracks, with the artwork of number one | Medium | 4×2 |
| Top albums | Your most played albums, with the artwork of number one | Medium | 4×2 |
Adding a widget¶
- Touch and hold an empty spot on the home screen until the icons start to jiggle.
- Tap + in the corner. On iOS 18 and later, tap Edit → Add Widget.
- Search for Musicat and tap it.
- Swipe sideways to pick a size, then tap Add Widget.
- Tap Done.
To put one on the Lock Screen, touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customise, tap a widget slot and choose Musicat. Today and Streak are the two that fit there.
- Touch and hold an empty spot on the home screen.
- Tap Widgets and find Musicat in the list.
- Touch and hold the widget you want, then drag it where it should go.
- If it has settings, they open straight away. Choose what it should show and tap Save.
Musicat's widgets cannot be resized once placed, so every size is its own entry in the list — Today and Today (wide), Top artists, Top artists (wide) and Top artists (large). Pick the one that fits the space you have.
Changing what a widget shows¶
Most widgets have something to choose. Streak does not — it counts days, and there is only one way to do that.
- Period — today, 7 days, 30 days or the last year. The top charts start at 7 days.
- Metric — plays or minutes.
- Compare with — yesterday, the 7-day average, or last week. Today only.
- Chart — none, the last 7 days or the last 14 days. Today only.
Touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget, then tap a value to change it. The widget redraws as you pick.
The settings open by themselves when you add a widget that has them. To change them later, touch and hold the widget and tap the pencil. If your phone does not offer it, remove the widget and add it again.
Each copy keeps its own settings, so two Today widgets side by side can show different things.
How often it updates¶
Your phone decides when a widget is redrawn, not Musicat — there is no way to force it. Musicat refreshes the numbers whenever it is open or running in the background, so a widget can be hours behind.
Six hours after the last refresh the widget fades. Today and Streak also say how old the numbers are - data from 6 h ago - while the top charts only fade, having no room for the line.
Opening Musicat brings them up to date, unless they were refreshed a few minutes ago.
If they stay behind for longer than that:
Leave Musicat in the app switcher. Swiping it away stops iOS from letting it do anything in the background until you open it again. Keep Background App Refresh on for Musicat under Settings → General → Background App Refresh, and bear in mind that Low Power Mode pauses background updates while it is on.
Set battery usage for Musicat to No restrictions under Settings → Apps → Musicat → Battery, so the system does not stop it from updating in the background.
What the widget says instead of numbers¶
- Sign in to see your stats — tap it to open Musicat and sign in.
- Connect Spotify or Apple Music — you are signed in, but nothing is being tracked yet. Connect Spotify or Apple Music.
- Nothing today yet — nothing has counted in the chosen period. A play needs around 30 seconds to count.