@chris.raroque: MISTAKE NO. 8/10 ✶ Launching without a widget 🤦‍♂️ I never realized how much of my users’ Home Screens I was giving up. Every time someone unlocks their phone, your app is competing with dozens of other icons for attention. A widget is such a hack because even the smallest one takes up the same space as four app icons 👀 Lock Screen widgets might be even more valuable. There are only a handful of spots, and your app can be sitting there before someone even unlocks their phone. The widget still has to show something useful, though. I first saw this with Ellie, where the widget puts someone’s plan for the day directly on their Home Screen. This is still a small sample size, but users who installed it were 25% more likely to come back one week later. I’m already seeing the same pattern with Amy. Its widget shows how many calories someone has left, so every time they check their phone, it’s also a small reminder to log their food. All of my apps have widgets now, and I’m never launching another one without one. This was mistake 8 of 10. Follow along for mistake 9, where 100 people tried my app and only 3 actually used it. #softwaredeveloper #coding #appdevelopment #iosdeveloper #buildinpublic

Chris Raroque

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Monday 31 August 2026 16:56:23 GMT