Widgetable alternatives

Widgetable put a shared toy on the Home Screen: a pet you raise together, a plant that grows, a status that updates. People usually go looking for an alternative when they realise what they actually wanted was for the widget to carry something a friend said.

The short version: Widgetable is about co-owning something cute with a friend or partner. If that is what you want, it does it well. If you want the widget to show an actual message or photo from a specific person, you want a different kind of app: Bubbl sends written notes and three-photo film rolls with per-post audience control, Locket sends single photos to your group, and noteit sends drawings to one partner.

What Widgetable actually does

Widgetable is a shared-widget app built around virtual companions. You and a friend or partner raise a pet together, grow a plant, or keep a status widget that shows how the other person is doing. There is a shop, and a lot of it is cosmetic.

The appeal is co-ownership. You are both looking after the same small thing, and the widget is the window into it. It is closer to a Tamagotchi you share than to a messaging app.

Why people look for something else

Three reasons come up repeatedly.

The first is that a pet is not a message. When something actually happens in your day, there is nowhere in a pet widget to put it. You end up back in a chat app, which is where things get lost.

The second is upkeep. A virtual pet needs feeding. That is the point for some people and a chore for others, and which one it is tends to become clear after a couple of weeks.

The third is cost. The shop and the cosmetics add up if you engage with them.

If you want messages instead of a pet

Bubbl

Free on iOS and Android, no ads

Bubbl is ours, so try the free app rather than taking our word for it. It puts two things on a Home Screen. A written note, on a colored canvas where you choose the background, the type and the emoji. Or photos, sent three at a time, stacked like a strip from a photo booth so a whole afternoon arrives as one post.

Every post has an audience choice before it sends: one friend, a community, or everyone you are connected to. Reactions happen on the Home Screen, attached to the post. No pets to feed, no shop, no ads.

Setup takes about a minute on iPhone or Android, and there is a longer guide to how Bubbl works.

Locket

Free, with an optional paid upgrade

The app that started Home Screen sharing. You take one photo and it appears on your friends' Home Screens. Simple, and it has the largest network of people already using it, so the friend you want to send to is more likely to have it. Everything goes to your whole Locket group. There is a direct comparison with Bubbl if that is the decision you are making.

noteit

Free, with in-app purchases

You draw something or write by hand, and it lands on your partner's Home Screen. Built for one linked person, deliberately. If it is the two of you and you like drawing, this is the one.

Side by side

App	What the widget shows	Who it is for	Upkeep
Bubbl	Notes you design, and three-photo film rolls	A friend, a community, or everyone. Chosen per post	None
Widgetable	A shared pet, plant, or status	A partner or close friends	The pet needs looking after
Locket	One photo at a time	Your Locket friend group	None
noteit	Drawings and handwriting	One linked partner	None

How to choose

Keep Widgetable if the shared pet is the thing you enjoy. Nothing else on this list replaces that, because nothing else is trying to.

Switch if you found yourself wanting to say something and the widget had nowhere to put it. Bubbl if you want words and photos and a say in who sees each one. Locket if photos alone are enough and your friends are already there. noteit if it is one person and you would rather draw than type.

They are all free to start, so the cheapest way to decide is to install the one whose description matched what you were about to send.

Questions people ask

Is there a free alternative to Widgetable?

Yes. Bubbl is free on both platforms and runs no advertisements. Locket and noteit both have free tiers with paid upgrades.

Can I use more than one widget app at once?

Yes. They are all just widgets, so they sit next to each other on the Home Screen and none of them interferes with the others.

Does the other person need the same app?

In every case, yes. A Home Screen widget can only be filled by its own app, so both people need it installed and the widget added.

Which one works between iPhone and Android?

Bubbl, Locket and Widgetable are all on both platforms. Individual features sometimes arrive on one before the other.

Try Bubbl

Notes and three-photo film rolls on the Home Screen. Free, no ads, nothing to feed.