Two apps that fix two annoying gaps
A moving Home Screen widget, and the calmest way to track what you watch.
👋 HEY, IT'S RAJA
Usually I bring you one app worth installing. This week two small ones caught me, each quietly fixing a gap Apple never got around to.
🔍 Find one: Widget Cast
Put a looping video on your Home Screen, no jailbreak required.
What it does
iOS still will not let a video live on your Home Screen, so Widget Cast fakes it beautifully. Feed it a short clip and it turns the frames into an animated widget, a little flipbook that loops right there among your icons. The whole thing is wrapped in a charming retro tape deck interface, which makes setting it up feel like playing with a toy in the best way. What it does better than anything else is put genuine motion on your Home Screen with no jailbreak and no hacks.
Pro tip: keep your clip to two or three seconds so the loop stays smooth instead of choppy.
🔍 Find two: calmshows
A genuinely free, ad free way to track what you watch.
What it does
A movie and TV tracker that is genuinely free, with no ads and no upsell waiting to ambush you. Discover something to watch, add it to your list, and check things off, all in a clean, quiet interface. It comes from an indie developer building a whole suite of these calm, no catch apps, so if you like this one there is more in the same spirit. What it does better than anything else is stay a no strings tracker in a category full of subscriptions.
Pro tip: it pairs nicely with the rest of the developer's calm suite if you want your other small tools to feel this unbothered.
Two installs, five minutes. Reply and tell me which one sticks, and I'll see you Wednesday with a deep dive.
Keep it useful,
Raja · The Useful Tech
P.S. Enjoyed this? Forward it to a friend who loves their Apple gear a little too much.