The Mac lock screen has always felt a little underused. You see the time, your wallpaper, and not much else. macOS already supports desktop widgets, but once your Mac is locked, that extra information disappears.
WidgetScreen is trying to fix that in a pretty simple way. The free Mac app, made by UK computer science student Sam Cook, adds glassy widgets to the lock screen so you can quickly check things like the weather, clock, calendar, battery, music playback, countdowns, and system information.
The app is intentionally limited to the lock screen. The widgets appear when the Mac is locked and disappear when the user signs in, so they do not compete with macOS desktop widgets.
What does WidgetScreen actually do?
WidgetScreen is built for quick glances. You can arrange widgets on a grid, resize them, choose frosted or clear glass styles, change units and time format, and decide which display they appear on.
Found a pretty cool little app for the Mac lock screen.
— Sudhanshu k. Manglam (@sud_manglam)
WidgetScreen adds glassy widgets for weather, calendar, battery, music, countdowns, and system info. It’s free. https://t.co/HmkhjLn7ig pic.twitter.com/970hSKqkDq
The app also avoids one obvious concern. It does not ask for Screen Recording permission, and its website says it does not capture your screen or read your wallpaper. Instead, the widgets sit above the lock screen as native windows. Weather data comes from Open-Meteo, with a coarse IP-based location by default. You can also set a custom city manually.
How much does it cost?
WidgetScreen is completely free, does not require an account, and works on macOS 15 or later. It also lives in the menu bar, so it is easy to tweak without digging around.
Cook is already taking feedback from Reddit users. Automatic updates and improved frosted glass visuals have been added, while user-added widgets, desktop support, more opacity controls, extra calendar options, and more widget styles are among the ideas being worked on for future updates.