Add the Bubbl widget to your iPhone Home Screen

This takes about a minute. Once the widget is on your Home Screen, every note a friend sends you shows up there by itself.

Quick answer: install Bubbl from the App Store. Touch and hold your Home Screen until the apps jiggle, tap +, search for Bubbl, pick a size, tap Add Widget, then tap Done. Full steps below.

The Bubbl widget showing a note on an iPhone Home Screen. — The widget once it's set up.

Before you start

An iPhone on iOS 14 or later. Home Screen widgets arrived in iOS 14.
Bubbl installed from the App Store, with your account signed in.
At least one friend connected in Bubbl. Notes come from people, so connect with someone first.

Add the widget, step by step

Touch and hold an empty part of your Home Screen until the apps jiggle. Press the wallpaper, not an app icon.
Tap the + button in the top corner. The widget gallery opens.
Search for "Bubbl" in the search field, or scroll until you find it.
Swipe through the sizes and pick one that fits your layout. Bigger widgets show more of each note.
Tap Add Widget.
Drag the widget where you want it. Put it somewhere you'll actually see when you unlock.
Tap Done, or just tap the wallpaper, to finish.

If notes aren't showing in the widget

It's empty or waiting

The widget fills when a friend sends you a note. If it's empty, connect with a friend and ask for one, or send them one and watch theirs land.

Bubbl isn't in the widget gallery

Check that Bubbl finished installing, then open it once and sign in. If it still doesn't show up, restart the iPhone and look again.

Notes stopped updating

Make sure the friend is still connected and the app is on its latest version from the App Store. Removing the widget and adding it back clears most stuck states too.

On Android instead?

The steps are a bit different. See add the Bubbl widget on Android.

Get Bubbl for iPhone

Free on the App Store.