RouraWidgets Guide & Support
How to get the most out of RouraWidgets 0.16 / 1.0. It's written for you (CJ), and the support page uses it too.
1. The 2-minute setup
- Pick a starting point. Open the app → The Signature Collection at the top of the gallery. Choose Small, Medium or Large and tap a design. For the all-in-one large widget, scroll to More Suggestions → Today (Smart).
- Make it yours. In the editor:
- drag apps in the preview, or in the Apps list, to reorder them;
- tap Add Apps to add more;
- pick a Look (Glass, a scene, a gradient, a photo or a wallpaper match).
- Put it on your Home Screen. Tap Add to Home Screen and follow the guide:
- Touch and hold the Home Screen → Edit → Add Widget.
- Search RouraWidgets and pick the size.
- Touch and hold the new widget → Edit Widget → choose your design.
- Tap an app. It opens directly. RouraWidgets doesn't flash in between.
One RouraWidgets widget can show any design. Make several designs and switch them in Edit Widget, or let Routines switch them for you (§6).
2. Looks that land
| Look | Best for | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Any wallpaper | Live Liquid Glass on Light, Dark and Clear Home Screens. Pair it with Minimal icons for the cleanest look. |
| Scenes (Dusk, Aurora, Ember, Ocean…) | A bold color block | Use Rounded icons with a soft shadow. |
| Gradient (Pro) | Matching your wallpaper's colors | Start from a preset, then nudge the two colors. |
| Photo (Pro) | Personal Home Screens | Pick a photo with a quiet area behind the icons. |
| Wallpaper match (Pro) | A "no widget" floating-icons look | One screenshot, or a Light and Dark pair. Line it up again after you move the widget or change wallpaper. |
Glass Studio (Pro) refines glass:
- Ink: separate light and dark text/icon colors, e.g. Midnight on light, White on dark.
- Readability: add 10–20% on busy wallpapers.
- Edge: around 40% gives a subtle rim.
Icon styles:
- Light / Dark: real App Store icons.
- Mono (Pro): grayscale.
- Minimal (Pro): just the logo, tinted to your ink. To override any Minimal logo, go to the app's ⋯ → Choose Minimal Symbol.
Shape, shadow and name font: Squircle, Rounded, Circle or Square; Soft shadow or Glow; and Default, Rounded, Serif or Mono names. These turn a grid into a style.
Matching set: editor ⋯ → Make Matching Set creates the same design in the other sizes.
3. Smart Widgets (Large)
Today (Smart) is a large widget with tabs you switch right on the Home Screen. It has a date header, a battery reading, a week strip and these tabs:
- Apps: 8 shortcuts.
- Agenda: your calendars. Tap it to open Fantastical, Calendar, Outlook or Google Calendar (choose which in the editor).
- Tasks: Reminders, or a big button for Things, Todoist and the like.
- Weather: WeatherKit, with hourly.
- Countdown: to any date.
- Photo: a picture you choose.
Switching tabs happens in the widget and doesn't open the app.
4. Signature designs (one per idea)
Fifteen hand-built compositions, five per size. Pick one under New Widget → The Signature Collection.
| Size | Designs |
|---|---|
| Small | Pocket Launch, Focus Dial, Audio Dock, Weather Pocket, Quick Capture |
| Medium | Mail Rail, Day Strip, Film Night, Route Board, Studio Desk |
| Large | Daily Brief, Inbox Desk, Note Studio, Wellness Board, Agenda Board |
- Wellness Board: connect Health for today's steps and active energy against your goal. It reads only those two values, and they stay on your phone. Settings → Disconnect & Clear Health removes them.
- Pinned notes (Quick Capture, Note Studio, Studio Desk): a private scratchpad of up to 2,000 characters.
5. Everyday Studios
| Studio | Plan | Use it like this |
|---|---|---|
| Habit Board | Free with 2 goals, Pro for 4 | Rename goals (e.g. "LeetCode ×2", "Water ×8"). Tap + on the widget to log. Streaks break on a missed day. Logs are personal and never sent to Health. |
| Focus Studio | Pro | Set focus and break lengths (e.g. 50/10) and turn on Notify when a session ends. Start and pause from the widget. Today's minutes and a 7-day chart build up. |
| Task Desk | Pro | Connect Reminders and pick lists. Tap a circle on the widget to complete a task. Tap + to open Quick Capture, then choose a list and Save. |
| Theme Library | Pro | Style one design → Theme Library → Save & Coordinate This Look. Pick other designs → Preview → Apply. Undo restores them if you haven't edited them since. |
6. Routines
Once you have two or more designs, a Routines section appears in the editor. For example: show Workday Monday to Friday 9–5, otherwise Today. The first matching routine wins. A Focus filter (Settings › Focus › Filters › RouraWidgets) beats routines. iOS decides the exact refresh moment, usually within minutes.
7. Describe a Widget (AI)
Tap ✨ and describe what you want, for example: "A medium glass widget with Spotify, Overcast and YouTube, music-y."
- On supported iPhones, Apple's on-device model builds it. Otherwise a local starter builder does. Either way you pay nothing and nothing goes to our servers.
- Add an image idea ("a theater seat and popcorn") and Image Playground offers a background. You confirm it.
- Review the proposal before Apply. Undo and version history are in the editor menu.
8. Apps that won't open
- Built-in catalog: almost 500 apps with checked launch links that open the app, not an action.
- Not in the catalog: search the App Store in Add Apps. If its link is unknown, Set Up offers a Shortcut (Shortcuts → "Open App" action → name it → pick it here) or a website.
- Something doesn't open: turn off Settings → Open Apps Directly. Taps then go through RouraWidgets, which tries backup links and shows the setup sheet. Report the app to support@roura.tech so the catalog can be fixed.
- Shortcuts: they open the Shortcuts app and run immediately.
9. Lock Screen, Control Center, Action button
- Lock Screen: add App Launcher (circular or rectangular) and choose an app.
- Control Center / Action button: add the Open App control and choose an app.
These two currently open RouraWidgets for a moment first.
10. Sharing, backup, sync
- Share (long-press a design): sends a link and picture with the design only. Photos, notes, Health, habit names and Shortcut names are left out.
- iCloud Sync: keeps design settings on your devices. Photos and wallpaper crops stay on the device that picked them.
- Backup (Settings → Library Backup): exports a private file with designs, photos, icons and notes. Use it before trying a big change.
11. Pro, plainly
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Designs | 3 | Unlimited |
| Glass, scenes, Light/Dark icons | ✓ | ✓ |
| Habit Board | 2 goals | 4 goals |
| Photos, gradients, wallpaper match | — | ✓ |
| Mono and Minimal icons, dense layouts | — | ✓ |
| Focus Studio, Task Desk, Theme Library, Glass Studio | — | ✓ |
Prices: $1.99 a month, $14.99 a year (with a 1-month free trial) or $34.99 once. If Pro ends, your designs stay and fall back to free looks.
Contact
Email support@roura.tech with your iPhone model and iOS version. We usually reply within two business days.