Using Wealtie: How to add widgets in Wealtie, and which of the 11 to pick

How do you add widgets in Wealtie?

Through your phone's normal widget picker. The steps are about the same on any recent phone:

• iPhone: press and hold an empty part of the home screen, tap Edit or the plus button, search for Wealtie, then choose a widget and a size.
• Android: press and hold an empty part of the home screen, tap Widgets, find Wealtie, then drag the one you want into place.

Open the app at least once first, and add an account, so the widget has something to show. There's nothing else to connect or set up. You can put as many on a screen as you like, in any size they offer.

Which Wealtie widget should you pick?

Pick by the question you ask most. Here are all eleven:

Android starts each one small and lets you stretch them more freely, so the sizes above are what iPhone offers.

What's the best first widget?

Add Transaction, if you've ever forgotten to log something. Budgets often stop working at the point logging stops. A widget that takes you straight to the form, with nothing in between, removes a few taps at exactly the point you'd skip it.

If logging's already a habit, go with Budget Remaining. It shows what's left to spend, which is the figure you'd want before paying for something. Why budgets fail has more on keeping going past the second month.

Which widgets suit which situations?

Match it to what's tripped you up before.

Two or three are usually enough. If you fill a whole screen, you'll stop reading any of them.

Put the one you care about most on your first home screen, near where your thumb lands. A widget you have to swipe to find is one you'll stop looking at within a month. If you want to keep the home screen clear, a second page or a widget stack on iPhone works too, as long as you've got a reason to go there.

Give it a couple of weeks and swap anything you haven't glanced at. Your first pick won't always be the one that ends up useful, and changing it only takes a moment.

Do the widgets update on their own?

Yes. Whatever you last logged is what the widget shows, so there's nothing to pull down or tap. The number's right with the app closed, with no signal, and in the aisle of a shop with one bar.

Keep in mind that a widget can only be as accurate as your logging. If you haven't entered yesterday's spending, Budget Remaining will still be showing the figure from before it. A quick log at the end of each day keeps every number on your screen honest.

What happens when you tap one?

It opens the screen behind it and skips the home screen. The budget widgets go to your budget, the spending ones to analytics, the bill ones to your recurring transactions, and Balance goes to your accounts. Add Transaction goes straight to the form.

Why might a widget be empty?

Usually because it's got nothing to show yet. Budget Status and Budget Remaining need a budget, so set up a budget first. Bills Due This Week and Upcoming Bill read from your recurring transactions, so they stay empty until you've added one. Setting up a recurring bill only takes a minute.

Streak needs a budget or income goal that's running. Your count goes up when a period closes successfully, so it'll sit at zero for your first month. Budget streaks explains how the count works.

Can you put a widget on the lock screen?

On iPhone, yes, for the Streak widget. It's the only one of the eleven that fits the lock screen, and you add it through the iPhone's lock screen editor by pressing and holding the lock screen and tapping Customize.

If you share a phone or use it around other people, think about what's visible. A Balance widget on your home screen shows your total to anyone who glances at it, so you may prefer a widget that shows less.

All eleven are listed on the budget widget page, and the budget tracker page covers what sits behind the budget ones.