Is Widgetscape free?

The download is free and includes 14 days of every widget. After that, 8 widgets stay free forever: Time, Analog Clock, Calendar, Focus Timer, System Pulse, Batteries, Weather, Moon Phase. Widgetscape Pro unlocks the rest for €9.99 + VAT, paid once, for up to 2 Macs. There is no subscription.

See Free widgets, trial and Pro.

What happens when the trial ends?

The 8 free widgets keep working. The others stay where they are as a small locked card with Buy and Enter License, and they keep their settings. Unlock Widgetscape Pro and they come straight back.

How does it compare to Übersicht or Rainmeter?

Rainmeter runs only on Windows, and no app runs its skins on a Mac. Übersicht is free and open source, and you write its widgets yourself in JavaScript and HTML.

Widgetscape gives you ready-made native widgets that work in minutes and match each other. It doesn’t run skins or your own scripts, so for a widget built around a script you wrote, Übersicht is the better tool.

More on the website: Rainmeter for Mac and Übersicht alternative.

Will it slow my Mac down or drain the battery?

Widgetscape is written in Swift and uses no web views. Widgets redraw only when what they show changes. Widgets you can’t see, behind a window or on another Space, do no work. System readings are taken only while a widget that shows them is visible, and less often in Low Power Mode.

What do widgets read, and where does it go?

Each widget reads what it needs on your Mac, and its Privacy tab lists exactly what that is. Nothing a widget shows passes through VPO Labs servers. Connected calendars and mail talk straight to your provider, and Weather sends rounded coordinates to Apple Weather.

The app also sends anonymous usage counts, about once a day and shortly after you add or remove a widget, and never what your widgets show. They’re on by default. To turn them off, choose Settings › Privacy & Permissions and turn off Share anonymous usage data.

See Permissions and privacy and the privacy policy.

Which Macs does it run on?

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). Intel Macs aren’t supported.

I rarely see my desktop. Is it still worth it?

Widgets live behind your windows, so they suit a large or second display, Stage Manager, or a habit of clearing your windows away. Day Timeline sits along a screen edge, and widgets fit beside the Dock, where windows rarely reach. Try the 8 free widgets for a week and see whether you look at them.

Is it safe to install?

Yes. Widgetscape is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and every update is signed too. Updates download in the background and install while the Widgetscape window is closed. You can turn this off in Settings › Updates.

Widgetscape comes straight from its website because Now Playing for Music, Spotify and browsers, Privacy Lights and the batteries of your other devices need system access the Mac App Store doesn’t allow. Download it only from the Widgetscape website.

How many Macs can I use it on?

A license is personal and covers up to 2 Macs that you own or use. To move it, choose Settings › License on the old Mac and click Deactivate This Mac. If that Mac is gone, free it on the website’s License page.

Your key arrives by email and on the confirmation page, where Open in Widgetscape fills it in for you.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Ask within 14 days of purchase, for any reason, at support@vpolabs.com with your order reference, and you get a full refund. Your license key is disabled when the refund goes through. Dodo Payments, the merchant of record, handles payments and refunds. See the terms.

I used Drift. What do I do?

Drift is now Widgetscape, and Drift gets no more updates. To move over, follow the three steps on Drift is now Widgetscape.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Widget	A live tile on your desktop, such as a clock, a calendar or a CPU graph. Widgetscape draws widgets behind your windows.
Widgetscape window	The app’s window, where you choose, add and change widgets.
Library	The widgets in the Widgetscape window. All Widgets shows every widget, On Desktop shows yours, and each category shows its own.
Settings page	The page that opens when you click a widget in the library, with its tabs: Stack, Styles & Sizes, General, Content, Layout and Privacy.
Style	A different design of the same widget, such as an analog clock’s dial. Change it in Styles & Sizes.
Size	How much of the grid a widget takes: Small, Medium, Tall, Wide, Large, Landscape, Extra Large or Huge.
Stack	Several widgets sharing one place on the desktop, one page at a time. See Stacks.
Appearance	The look every widget shares: colors, material, font and shape, plus placement and visibility defaults. See Appearance.
Palette	A set of colors every widget uses, chosen in Appearance › Style.
Display setup	A combination of connected displays. Each one can keep its own widget positions.
Move Widgets	The mode for moving widgets on the desktop. Drag them, or use the arrow keys, then click Done.
Presentation Mode	Hides all widgets, or the ones with personal data, while you present.
Lock Screen	Widgets you choose can also show while your Mac is locked.
Desktop Agent	The part of Widgetscape that draws your widgets. It keeps running when you quit the app. macOS lists it as Widgetscape Agent.
Widgetscape Agent	The name macOS shows for the Desktop Agent in System Settings, for example in Notifications and Privacy & Security.
Permission	Access to something on your Mac, such as Calendars or Location, that macOS asks you to allow.
Privacy tab	The tab on a widget’s settings page that says what the widget reads, where it goes and what access it has.
Free widgets	The 8 widgets that keep working after the trial: Time, Analog Clock, Calendar, Focus Timer, System Pulse, Batteries, Weather, Moon Phase.
Trial	14 days of every widget, starting the first time you open Widgetscape.
Widgetscape Pro	The one-time purchase that unlocks every widget.
License key	The code you get by email after buying Widgetscape Pro. Enter it in Settings › License.
Activation	One Mac where your license key is in use. A license allows up to 2.
Usage data	Anonymous daily counts of how Widgetscape is used, never what your widgets show. On by default, off in Settings › Privacy & Permissions.
Reference	A code such as WS-7K3P9Q shown after you send feedback or a crash report.