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 the native macOS desktop widgets (macOS 14 and later).
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, Apple's guide has you Control-click the wallpaper, choose Edit Widgets and drag a widget from the gallery to any position on the desktop (checked 16 October 2026). It's a genuinely useful native feature, and worth knowing what it covers before reaching for anything else:
- Widgets from Apple, your apps and your iPhone. The gallery has search and categories and lists widgets from Apple and from your installed apps and, with “Use iPhone widgets” turned on in the Desktop & Dock settings, from your iPhone (Apple's guide, checked 16 October 2026). What you can pick therefore depends on the apps you have installed.
- A choice of size, no shape option documented. Apple's guide lets you choose a different size for a widget (Control-click it, then pick a size) and documents no shape option (checked 16 October 2026).
- Their colours follow a system setting. Apple's guide describes a “Dim widgets on desktop” menu in the Desktop & Dock settings on macOS 26 and 27, with the options Automatically, Always (monochrome) and Never (full color); on Sonoma and Sequoia the same menu is named “Widget style” with Automatic, Monochrome and Full-color (checked 16 October 2026). How a native widget looks therefore depends on that setting rather than on your wallpaper palette. If native widgets look gray or faded, here is why Mac desktop widgets look gray or faded.
That's exactly where Mac+ picks up: 12 widgets purpose-built for the desktop layer, in 3 sizes and 4 shapes, styled to match the rest of your setup. Both kinds sit behind your open windows — Apple's own guide says to click the wallpaper to move the windows aside when native widgets are hidden — so placement is not the difference; the catalogue, the shapes and the styling are. The two systems aren't in competition — you can run native macOS widgets and Mac+ widgets side by side.
Native macOS widgets (macOS 14 and later) vs Mac+
An honest side-by-side, criterion by criterion.
| Criterion | Native macOS widgets (macOS 14 and later) | Mac+ |
|---|---|---|
| Number of widgets | Widgets from Apple, from your installed apps and, if turned on, from your iPhone (Apple's guide, checked 16 October 2026) | 12 dedicated desktop widgets (clock, date, Focus, timer, season, weekend, weather, battery, storage, memory, network, moon) |
| Sizes / shapes | A choice of size per widget; no shape option in Apple's guide | 3 sizes × 4 shapes (rounded rectangle, capsule, circle, tag) |
| Position vs. windows | Desktop layer: open windows cover them (click the wallpaper to reveal them) | Desktop layer too: behind your windows |
| Visual customization | Color follows the “Dim widgets on desktop” / “Widget style” setting | 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 plan (2 widgets), then 9.99€ once for lifetime or 1.99€/month with a 7-day trial (prices checked 16 October 2026; 9.99€ is shown as a launch offer on the home page) |
If a couple of native widgets already cover what you need, there's no reason to add anything else. If you want a dedicated set of 12 with 3 sizes, 4 shapes and styling matched to your palette, 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 the widgets are for
The uses these widgets are built around, described in general terms:
- Information at a glance, without opening an app. Check battery, storage or the time straight from the desktop instead of clicking through menu-bar icons or apps.
- Widgets that stay out of the way. Because they sit under open windows, the clock, date or Focus widget is visible only when the desktop is actually clear — exactly when it's useful, and hidden the rest of the time.
- Shapes and sizes that fit the rest of the desktop. Pick a shape and size per widget so the whole set reads as one coherent row or cluster rather than mismatched boxes.
- Fast repositioning. A whole widget layout can be rearranged or hidden from one panel, without digging through System Settings.
- Coexistence with a live wallpaper. The widgets are designed to 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 the native macOS desktop widgets?
No, they're complementary. Since macOS Sonoma, Apple's guide has you Control-click the wallpaper, choose Edit Widgets and drag a widget from the gallery to any position on the desktop; it documents a choice of size for each widget but no shape option (checked 16 October 2026). Mac+ widgets are a separate set — 12 widgets in 3 sizes and 4 shapes — styled to match your palette. Like Apple's, they live on the desktop layer, under your windows.
Do desktop widgets slow down my Mac?
Mac+ widgets refresh only when their content changes (minutes for the clock, hours for the season), not continuously. If you also run a Mac+ live wallpaper, its animation pauses when the screen sleeps or an app covers the desktop. We have not published a measurement of the widgets' CPU or battery use.
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+ has a free plan 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.
