Guides
A moon widget for your iPhone — home screen and lock screen
A moon app is really a widget with an app behind it: the glance you actually use lives on the home screen. Plenilune's widgets put an engraving there instead of a photograph.
The widgets
- Today's moon — the engraved disc of the current phase, with its name and illuminated fraction; small or medium, for the home screen.
- Month calendar — the month at a glance with a phase disc on each day.
- Almanac note — the day's note from the almanac: a sky fact or a saying, in the almanac voice.
- Rise & set — moonrise and moonset for your location, on the lock screen; the same data as the app's Today screen.
- Lock-screen phase — the current phase as a circular lock-screen complication, legible at a glance.
Every widget is drawn in the same engraved style as the app — paper and ink, adapted to light and dark mode — and computed entirely on the device. No network, no account, and nothing to keep alive: the Moon's motion is predictable, so the widget schedules its own updates through the system.
How to add a moon widget on iPhone
- Home screen: touch and hold an empty spot until the apps jiggle, tap Edit, then Add Widget, search for Plenilune, choose a size, tap Add Widget.
- Lock screen: touch and hold the lock screen, tap Customize, choose the lock screen, tap the widget area, and pick Plenilune.
- Widgets update on a system schedule — iOS decides the exact refresh moments, and the phase is always computed for the moment shown.
Why widgets break in other apps — and how Plenilune avoids it
Read the reviews of any moon app and one complaint dominates: “the widget stopped updating.” The usual causes are a server the widget depends on, or a subscription check that fails quietly. Plenilune's widgets depend on neither — they compute the phase locally and read no network. The rise & set widget reads the location the app already has; nothing else is required of you.
Questions
- Does a moon widget drain the battery?
- Not a well-made one. iOS wakes a widget briefly on a schedule; between refreshes it costs nothing. Plenilune's widgets also use no network at all, which removes the main hidden cost.
- Why is my moon widget not updating?
- For any app: check that Background App Refresh is on, and that Low Power Mode is off — iOS throttles widget refreshes aggressively when saving power. A widget that needs a server or a login can also silently stop; Plenilune's widgets need neither.
- Are the lock-screen widgets free?
- Plenilune's core widgets, including the lock-screen phase, are part of the free app. Some styles belong to Premium — what is free and what is paid is stated plainly before any purchase.