Yes, you can have a Bluesky widget on your iPhone. Skyscraper, a free Bluesky client, adds twelve Home Screen widgets, a set of Lock Screen widgets and three Control Center controls, covering your timeline, follower count, post stats, saved posts, trending hashtags and weekly recaps. Each one can be pointed at a specific account.
Below: every widget and the sizes it comes in, how to add one, how to pick which account it shows, and the honest limits of widgets on iOS.
Every Skyscraper Widget, and Its Sizes
Names and descriptions below are exactly what you see in the iOS widget gallery.
| Widget | What it shows | Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Recent posts from your timeline | Small, Medium, Large |
| Timeline Photo | Photos from posts in your timeline, rotating | Large; Extra Large on iPad and Mac |
| Followers Count | How many people follow you | Small; Lock Screen |
| Latest Followers | The people who followed you most recently | Small, Medium, Large |
| Recent Activity | Likes and reposts your posts picked up today | Small; Lock Screen |
| Post Performance | Likes, reposts and replies on your most recent post | Small, Medium; Lock Screen |
| Saved Posts | A post you saved, resurfaced through the day | Small, Medium |
| On This Day | What you posted on this day in earlier years | Small |
| Trending Hashtags | Hashtags trending on Bluesky right now | Small, Medium, Large |
| Trending Topics | The stories Bluesky is talking about, from Explore | Medium, Large |
| Last Week Recap | Your posts, likes, reposts and new follows from the past 7 days | Medium, Large |
| Last Month Recap | The same, for the past 30 days | Medium, Large |
| A Post | A post from your timeline, changing through the day | Lock Screen (rectangular), iPhone |
"Lock Screen" means the circular, rectangular and inline Lock Screen slots, except for A Post, which is rectangular only. Extra Large is an iPad and Mac size; it does not exist on iPhone, so on iPhone the Timeline Photo widget is Large only.
Control Center controls
Separate from widgets, Skyscraper adds three controls you can place in Control Center, on the Lock Screen, or on the Action Button of iPhones that have one:
- New Post – opens the Skyscraper composer
- Search Skyscraper – jumps straight to search
- Skyscraper Activity – opens your notifications
New Post on the Action Button is the fastest way to get from a thought to a post on Bluesky that we know of.
How to Add a Bluesky Widget to Your Home Screen
- Install Skyscraper and sign in. Open the app once so it can save data for the widgets.
- Go to your Home Screen and touch and hold an empty area until the icons jiggle.
- Tap Edit in the top corner, then Add Widget.
- Search for Skyscraper, or scroll the list to find it.
- Swipe through the widgets and sizes, then tap Add Widget on the one you want.
- Drag it into place and tap Done.
Widgets appear in the gallery in a deliberate order: the timeline first, then your own numbers and recaps, then what is happening elsewhere on Bluesky.
How to Add a Bluesky Widget to the Lock Screen
- Unlock with Face ID or Touch ID, but stay on the Lock Screen.
- Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap Customize and choose the Lock Screen.
- Tap the widget area below the clock (or the slot above it, for inline widgets).
- Choose Skyscraper and tap the widget you want: Followers Count, Recent Activity, Post Performance or A Post.
- Tap Done.
A Followers Count circle next to the clock is the "how am I doing" glance without opening anything. A Post rotates through posts from your timeline during the day, which is a gentler way to keep up than a badge.
Picking Which Account a Widget Shows
Every Skyscraper widget is account-scoped. If you run more than one account – a personal one and a project, say – a follower count that silently follows whichever account happens to be active is worse than no follower count at all. So each widget has its own setting:
- Touch and hold the widget.
- Tap Edit Widget.
- Tap Account and choose one.
Leave it unset and the widget follows your active account. The setting remembers the account by its DID rather than its handle, so a widget keeps working if you change your handle. Two Followers Count widgets, one per account, side by side, is a common setup.
Signing in to more than one account in Skyscraper requires Skyscraper Pro; the widgets themselves are free.
Widgets Follow Your Theme
The widgets draw in whatever theme the app is set to. If you use plain Light or Dark, they use the system's own colors and look native. If you picked a Community Theme or built a custom one, or use a dark style like True Black, the widgets pick up that palette.
The exception is when iOS takes over the colors. On the Lock Screen, and on a tinted or clear Home Screen, iOS recolors everything, so the widgets switch to a monochrome look rather than fighting the tint. Avatars keep their faces in tinted mode instead of turning into blank discs.
How Often Widgets Update
This is the honest part. iOS, not the app, decides when a widget refreshes, and it budgets those refreshes. A widget is not a live feed.
- Most widgets read data the app saves. Your timeline, followers, activity, recaps and saved posts are written by Skyscraper when it runs. Opening the app is the reliable way to freshen them.
- Some rotate on their own. Timeline Photo, Saved Posts and A Post rotate through a small set of items during the day, so they change even when iOS does not ask for new data.
- Trending Hashtags fetches directly from Skyscraper's trending service, so it stays current even if you have not opened the app for days.
- On This Day changes once a day. Finding last year's posts means paging back through your history, which the app does once daily.
Tapping a widget opens Skyscraper to what the widget is showing.
iPad, Mac and Apple Watch
The same Home Screen widgets are available on iPad, where Timeline Photo also comes in Extra Large, and on the Mac, where you can add them from the widget gallery. The Lock Screen widgets and Control Center controls need iOS or iPadOS; the Mac has neither surface, so they are not offered there. Skyscraper on Apple Watch has its own complication showing a recent post from your timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Bluesky widget for iPhone?
Yes. Skyscraper, a free Bluesky client, includes twelve Home Screen widgets, Lock Screen widgets and three Control Center controls. Install it, sign in once, and the widgets appear in the iPhone widget gallery under Skyscraper.
Can I put a Bluesky widget on the Lock Screen?
Yes. Followers Count, Recent Activity and Post Performance work on the Lock Screen, and A Post is a Lock Screen widget that shows a post from your timeline. Add them by customizing your Lock Screen and choosing Skyscraper in the widget picker.
How do I make a widget show a different Bluesky account?
Long-press the widget, choose Edit Widget, and pick the account under Account. Each widget is set separately, so you can have one follower count for your personal account and another for a project account side by side.
Why isn't my Bluesky widget updating?
iOS decides how often widgets refresh, and most Skyscraper widgets draw from data the app saves in the background. Opening Skyscraper refreshes that data. Trending Hashtags fetches on its own, so it stays current even if you have not opened the app.
Do the widgets cost anything?
No. Widgets are part of the free version of Skyscraper. Skyscraper Pro is an optional subscription for things like extra accounts and custom theme building.
Bluesky Widgets in Skyscraper
- Twelve Home Screen widgets plus Lock Screen widgets and three Control Center controls, all in the free version
- Per-widget account choice under Edit Widget → Account
- Stats behind the widgets – activity heatmaps, posting streaks and week, month and year recaps in the app