Guide
Mac Widgets on your Desktop
macOS keeps its widgets in Notification Center, one swipe away from where you actually work. BetterMacWidgets puts them on the desktop itself — 25 of them, most live-animated, all draggable. Free, for macOS 15 and newer.
What are desktop widgets on a Mac?
A widget is a small panel that shows one thing at a glance and keeps it current: the weather, the track that is playing, how full your disk is, what is next in your calendar. Apple ships widgets on macOS, but they live in Notification Center or, since Sonoma, parked on the desktop as static panels driven by WidgetKit.
BetterMacWidgets takes a different route. Its widgets are drawn by the app itself, so they can animate continuously — rain that actually falls, a second hand that sweeps, charts that move — and they float freely on the desktop instead of snapping into Apple's fixed column.
How to put widgets on your Mac desktop
Download the app, open it, and pick a widget in the sidebar. Drag its live preview onto the desktop, or press “Add to Desktop”. Drag the tile anywhere you like — an invisible snap grid keeps everything aligned without forcing a layout on you. Right-click any tile to resize it, restyle it or remove it.
Widgets stay exactly where you put them across restarts, sleep and monitor changes. If you use more than one display, positions are remembered per display arrangement.
Which widgets are included?
25 in total: 14 free and 11 in Pro. Most come in several individually designed sizes, from a 1×1 square to a 3×2 layout — not one design stretched to fit.
Do live widgets slow the Mac down?
Only what you can see does any work. A widget covered by another window or sitting on a different Space stops ticking entirely. In the default Balanced mode widgets animate while your pointer is over them and rest otherwise; High keeps everything moving; Energy Saver freezes them to still frames. Reduce Motion is always respected. Measured idle CPU is effectively zero.
What does it cost?
The app is free — no trial timer, no account, no ads. Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks the remaining widgets, 17 extra themes, the Clear glass look, widget stacks and smart layouts: €9.99 for one Mac, €12.99 for two, €14.99 for three. No subscription, and every future update is included.
Privacy
No telemetry, no analytics, no crash reporting. Widget data stays on your Mac. The app talks to the network only for the things that obviously need it: weather, Now Playing artwork, exchange rates, licence validation and the update feed. Clipboard history is kept in memory and never written to disk.
Every widget at a glance
- ClockFree
- World ClockFree
- CalendarFree
- CountdownFree
- TimerFree
- StopwatchFree
- RemindersFree
- Sticky NotePro
- ClipboardPro
- Drop ZonePro
- Now PlayingFree
- WeatherFree
- SystemPro
- BatteryFree
- DevicesPro
- NetworkPro
- AppsPro
- Unit ConverterFree
- Password GeneratorPro
- CryptoFree
- CurrenciesPro
- ShortcutPro
- PhotosFree
- StarfieldPro
- World MapFree