Mac desktop widgets
Put the things you actually look at on the desktop itself: a big clock, today's date, your Focus mode, a timer, the season, the countdown to the weekend. Mac+ ships 12 widgets in 3 sizes and 4 shapes, drop them anywhere, style them to match your wallpaper.
macOS 13 or later. Apple Silicon and Intel. Works alongside macOS Sonoma desktop widgets.
The 12 widgets
Sized and shaped for your desktop
Small, medium, large. Mix them freely to build a calm, glanceable dashboard next to your wallpaper.
Rounded rectangle, capsule, circle, tag. Widgets always match the softness of the macOS UI.
Drag to reposition. Snap to a corner, line them up along an edge, or scatter them freely — Mac+ remembers positions per display.
Widgets live on the desktop layer. When you open Safari or your IDE, they slide behind — no clutter.
How it works, step by step
Mac+ lives in the menu bar, not in the Dock — a small panel you open when you want to tweak something. Here's the full flow for placing a widget:
- Download and install Mac+. Get the .dmg from macplus.pro, drag Mac+ into Applications, open it. No account, no sign-up — the free tier is a real trial, not a locked demo.
- Open the Widgets tab. Click the menu-bar icon and switch to the Widgets tab, alongside Scenes and Icons.
- Pick a widget. Choose one of the 12 widgets: clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend, weather, battery, storage, memory, network or moon.
- Choose a size and a shape. Pick one of 3 sizes (S/M/L) and one of 4 shapes (rounded rectangle, capsule, circle, tag) — 12 combinations per widget.
- Drag it onto the desktop. Place it anywhere, on any connected display. It settles onto the desktop layer, under your windows — never in the way when you work.
- Fine-tune and forget it. Reposition, resize, reshape or hide any widget instantly from the same panel. Mac+ remembers every widget's placement per display.
Why desktop widgets on Mac?
Since macOS Sonoma, you can drag Notification Center widgets — calendar, weather, battery, a few others — straight onto the desktop. It's a genuinely useful native feature, and worth knowing what it covers before reaching for anything else:
- A limited, fixed catalog. The native widget gallery mostly mirrors what's already in Notification Center: a handful of Apple widgets plus whatever compatible apps you have installed. There's no dedicated "desktop widget" library to pick from.
- Sizes only, no shapes. Native widgets come in the system's small/medium/large gallery sizes, with the shape fixed by Apple or the app that provides them — there's no capsule, circle or tag option.
- They sit above your windows. Native desktop widgets live above your open windows rather than behind them, so they can end up overlapping whatever you're working on instead of staying purely in the background.
- No visual matching to a live wallpaper. They aren't designed to be recolored or restyled to sit under an animated background — they're meant to work on a static desktop.
That's exactly where Mac+ picks up: 12 widgets purpose-built to live under your windows on the desktop layer, in 3 sizes and 4 shapes, styled to match the rest of your setup rather than sitting on top of your workflow. The two systems aren't in competition — you can run native Sonoma widgets and Mac+ widgets side by side.
Native Sonoma widgets vs Mac+
An honest side-by-side, criterion by criterion.
| Criterion | Native Sonoma widgets | Mac+ |
|---|---|---|
| Number of widgets | A handful from Apple plus whatever apps you have installed | 12 dedicated desktop widgets (clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend, weather, battery, storage, memory, network, moon) |
| Sizes / shapes | 3 fixed gallery sizes, no shape choice | 3 sizes × 4 shapes (rounded rectangle, capsule, circle, tag) |
| Position vs. windows | Sit above your open windows | Sit on the desktop layer, under your windows |
| Visual customization | Fixed Apple/app styling | Matched to your palette and wallpaper, freely restyled |
| Placement | Desktop gallery drag-and-drop | Free placement anywhere, remembered per display |
| Cost | Free, built into macOS | Free trial (2 widgets included), then 9.99€ once for lifetime (or €1.99/month) |
If a couple of native widgets already cover what you need, there's no reason to add anything else. If you want a larger set with more sizes, shapes and a placement that never overlaps your windows, that's the gap Mac+ fills. For the fuller picture across wallpaper, icons and widgets together, see our complete Mac desktop customization guide.
Mac+ widget features at a glance
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| 12 desktop widgets | Clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend, weather, battery, storage, memory, network, moon |
| 3 sizes | Small, medium, large — mixed freely across your desktop |
| 4 shapes | Rounded rectangle, capsule, circle, tag |
| Under-windows placement | Widgets sit on the desktop layer, never on top of your work |
| Free placement | Drag anywhere on the desktop; position remembered per display |
| Instant show/hide | Toggle any widget's visibility from the Widgets panel at any time |
| Palette-matched styling | Widgets can be styled to match your live wallpaper and folder icons |
| Efficient refresh | Widgets update only when content changes (minutes for the clock, hours for the season) |
| Multi-display support | Different widget layouts per connected screen |
| Local-only | No ads, no telemetry — everything runs on-device |
| Compatibility | macOS 13 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel |
What users appreciate
Across the feedback we see, a few themes come back consistently — described here in general terms, not as individual quotes:
- Information at a glance, without opening an app. People often mention checking battery, storage or the time straight from the desktop instead of clicking through menu-bar icons or apps.
- Widgets that never get in the way. Because they sit under open windows, the clock, date or Focus widget stays visible only when the desktop is actually clear — exactly when it's useful, and invisible the rest of the time.
- Shapes and sizes that fit the rest of the desktop. A common use case is picking a shape and size per widget so the whole set reads as one coherent row or cluster rather than mismatched boxes.
- Fast repositioning. A recurring comment is how quickly a whole widget layout can be rearranged or hidden from one panel, without digging through System Settings.
- Coexistence with a live wallpaper. Feedback often highlights that widgets stay legible and calm against an animated scene instead of competing with it visually. For styling inspiration, see aesthetic Mac desktop ideas.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add widgets to the Mac desktop?
Yes. Mac+ adds 12 native widgets directly to your macOS desktop — clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend and more — in 3 sizes and 4 shapes.
Are these the same as macOS Sonoma desktop widgets?
No, they're complementary. Since macOS Sonoma, you can drag Notification Center widgets onto the desktop, but that catalog is limited and those widgets sit above your open windows. Mac+ widgets are a separate, larger set — 12 widgets in 3 sizes and 4 shapes — that live on the desktop layer, under your windows.
Do desktop widgets slow down my Mac?
No. Mac+ widgets refresh only when their content changes (minutes for the clock, hours for the season). They coexist with a live wallpaper without measurable overhead.
Can I move or hide a widget after placing it?
Yes. Drag freely, resize, reshape or hide from the Mac+ Widgets panel at any time.
Do the widgets stay on top of my windows?
No. Widgets live on the desktop layer, behind your windows. Out of the way while you work, visible when you clear your screen.
Is there a subscription?
Mac+ is free to try with no account required, including 2 widgets. Full access unlocks with a one-time lifetime payment of 9.99€, or an optional 1.99€/month plan with a 7-day free trial — the lifetime option has no recurring fees.
Does Mac+ work on Intel Macs, or only Apple Silicon?
Both. Mac+ supports macOS 13 and later on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs alike.
Can I use these widgets alongside a live wallpaper or folder icons?
Yes. Widgets, live wallpaper and folder icons are independent panels in the same app, and widgets are designed to sit on top of a live wallpaper without clashing with it.
