Notification Center

NC brings a Twitter widget to Notification Center

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Up until a few months ago, if you wanted to have a Twitter widget in Notification Center, you would have had to go the jailbreak way and find a tweak that would allow you to do just that. But since the release of iOS 8, and Apple opening up its mobile operating software for developers to create extensions, we've seen some really neat apps and widgets taking advantage of the new possibilities. NC is one of those.

NC is a new app that lets you add a Twitter widget to the Today tab of Notification Center, and from our usage of the app for the last few days, we can say it works as advertised.

TodayRemote is a widget with iTunes playback controls

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

With Apple’s Remote app, you can access your computer’s iTunes playback controls so you don’t have to get off the couch to switch songs. But, unlocking your iPhone, opening the app, and selecting your device is still just way too much work.

TodayRemote lets you control playback of iTunes right from the Lock screen of your iPhone. You’ll never have to work for your music again.

This widget lets you play Minesweeper directly from Notification Center

Sébastien Page ∙ January 22, 2015

Minesweeper Widget Edition is a new app launching in the App Store today that, as you might have guessed, brings a playable Minesweeper widget to the Today tab of Notification Center. Developed by the same guy who made Overglide, another playable Notification Center widget, Minesweeper Widget Edition promises to offer short and quick gaming to make your wait in line at the grocery store ever so enjoyable.

Thermos lets you control your Nest from Notification Center on iPhone and iPad

Sébastien Page ∙ January 20, 2015

Thermos for iPhone and iPad is the first application to let you control your Nest thermostat directly from your iPhone or iPad's Notification Center. Already available for Mac (read our review), Thermos has now made its way to iOS with a Notification Center widget that allows Nest user to adjust the temperature of the thermostat, as well as setting it to Away, or turning it off altogether.

How to remove all pending notifications at once

Sébastien Page ∙ January 6, 2015

Notification Killer is a new tweak released in Cydia that lets you remove all pending notification that are in Notification Center at once, saving you dozen of potential taps on the screen. The concept isn't new by any means, and many other tweaks have offered similar functionality in the past, but Notification Killer appeared at the right time in my Cydia feed, as I was recently looking for a tweak to do exactly what it does.

Split screen multitasking tweak ‘ReachApp’ gets an app selector in big update

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

If you're running the ReachApp beta—the jailbreak tweak that brings true split-screen multitasking to iOS—you likely noticed the update that just recently hit Cydia. The update adds a lot of new switches to the tweak's preferences, and fleshes out the description of each switch.

With ReachApp 0.1, you'll find the ability to view the Notification Center in split-screen view, enable a much-requested app selector (yes!) and more. Check out our new video walkthrough, which highlights many of the new features in this highly anticipated update.

Spotify4Me, the Spotify Notification Center widget for Mac

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Ever since Apple updated iOS and OS X with the ability to add extensions to Notification Center, I’ve been all about the widgets. On my Mac, I’ve got weather widgets, to-do lists, countdowns, and package trackers. I love them. I want more.

Spotify4Me is a Notification Center extension that adds song skip and volume controls to your Today View. It may not do much, but what it does, it does right.

The best Notification Center widgets of 2014

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

When Apple first revealed that iOS users would be able to access information from the Lock screen in iOS 8, I wasn’t that excited. I’ve never had a problem just unlocking my iPhone and opening the app I want to get information from. However, once Notification Center extensions became available, I was hooked. Now, I’ve got to-do lists, weather forecasts, news updates, and all kinds of widgets sitting on my Today view.

Everyone at iDB is excited about widgets, so it was pretty easy to come up with a big list of nominations. However, it was hard to narrow it down to the best one. With much hair pulling involved, we came to a final vote. The list below reveals our winner for best Notification Center widget, as well as the runner-ups. Since the feature has only existed for a few months, we are not going to name any “best ever” widget this year.

DockPhone lets you easily place phone calls from your Mac

Sébastien Page ∙ December 22, 2014

DockPhone is a new app that lets you dial and call any number directly from your Mac. Based on FaceTime's capabilities, and taking advantage of the new Continuity feature found on OS X Yosemite, DockPhone lets you make calls via your iPhone cellular connection right from the Mac, effectively adding a simple feature that users would have expected Apple to ship with Yosemite in the first place.

Nest Notification Center widget Thermos gets a warm update

Sébastien Page ∙ December 19, 2014

A couple weeks ago, I told you about Thermos, a widget for Notification Center on Mac that lets you adjust the temperature of your Nest thermostat. At the time, I was quite impressed with the widget, despite the fact that I felt it was a bit limited and contained a minor bug. This is now a thing of the past as Thermos was just updated with new features, and a fix for the pesky bug.

Glimpse lets you check your favorite webpages from Notification Center

Sébastien Page ∙ December 18, 2014

Glimpse is a new app that lets you pin one or more favorite webpages to the Today tab of Notification Center, allowing to have a quick glance at your most visited websites, without having to launch Safari. The Notification Center extension is particularly handy to check news-focused websites where information is often time sensitive, and where a quick look is usually enough to get an idea of what is going on, without necessarily unlocking the device and opening up the full web browser.

Share Widget for iOS 8: add sharing options for Twitter, Facebook, and more to Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Share Widget for iOS 8 is a brand new jailbreak tweak that allows you to add a handy share widget to the Today view in iOS 8's Notification Center. The tweak, which contains options for Twitter, FaceBook, Mail, Messages and others, also allows you to attach images to outgoing messages using a simple tap and hold gesture.