How to Fix WidgetSmith Grey in iOS 14

From iOS 14 onwards you can add widgets to your home screen, which is really cool as Apple never allowed its customers to play with home screen. Widget Smith is a great app to manage all your's Widgets, you can place them in a fix size, time them to appear on the screen. All in all Widget Smith is a really cool app to manage your widgets. But lots of iPhone users after installing WidgetSmith are facing issue that Widgets are not loading properly and are showing as grey box.

If you want to know how to use WidgetSmith, please read this tutorial about using WidgetSmith.

Why is my widgetsmith grey ?

Widgetsmith showing gray can be due to multiple reasons. The Widgets might not be loading due to issue with Widget Smith app or issue with issue with widgets itself, or it can be iOS 14 bug.

Not only widget Smith but lots of iPhone users after updating to iOS 14 are finding that widgets are not working in iOS 14. After adding the Widget from the home screen + icon or WidgetSmith, the Widget starts to appear on the home screen but does not show any content.

If you are facing issue after adding or deleting content from iPhone. For example in case of photo Widget, if you delete some photos from Memories section, it will cause Photo Widget to Show show grey.

Below we have listed some solution/ trouble shooting if Widget Smith is not working in your iPhone.

How to fix WidgetSmith Widgets not working in iOS 14, showing grey: iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone 8,7 Plus

Solutio 1: Make sure you save the customization

Many user who are facing WidgetSmith not working are doing actually not saving the widget properly. Please note after all the adjustments done to the widget you need to back out of the edit screen in WidgetSmith app and there’s a save button on the top right that actually saves the customization and automatically adjusts it on your Home Screen.

Solution 2: Fix Permission issue

Many widget requires to access your iPhone data to show/load widget properly for example photo widget will require access to your Photo album or Fitness widget will require access to iPhone user health data. In case you did not give permission for the first time when app asked for it, to fix this you will have to manually grant permission WidgetSmith app.

Go to -> Setting->General ->Permission-> Photo or health app (relevant for app) - > Make sure you have given necessary permission.

Other troubleshooting steps:

Fix 1: Tap on the widget to refresh it

First you should check if the Widget added to Widget Smith works as stand alone. add the widget directly from home screen and check it it loads fine, if not then its an issue with iOS or Widget not with WidgetSmith.

If Stand alone widget is also not loading, please note that in iOS 14 many of the iOS widgets are reported with issues like widgets not refreshing. No issue is reported with clock widget and weather widget. Same is for News widget where news widget it is blank. Widgets not loading or the refreshing can we issue with iOS 14 or something selective with the widget. If you want to refresh the Widget you will have to tap on it, so if your Widget is grey and not showing any content on it and check if it updates.

Fix 2: Make sure content is available for the widget

As WidgetSmith manages the widgets but underneath all widget are shown from default one . The Widgets content depends upon your iphone content or media or calendar for displaying widget content. In case your phone does not have relevant data , the Widget would not be able to show anything and will be shown as grey box. For example photo Widget will take photos from photo app of your iPhone, from the photo app in section ‘For You’ Will have all the photos that will be shown in the photo Widget. Please go and check, if there are no photos in for you section, Photo Widget will not be able to show anything. Unfortunately iPhone users are not allowed to add photo in for you section, so make sure to add or click some photos from your iPhone that will start to appear in For you section followed by photo Widget.

Check For You section if Photo Widget is grey

Fix 3: Remove and re-add the widgetSmith Widget

If WidgetSmith is not showing anything , then you should consider removing the Widget and re-adding it. Usually if have done editing to a widget in the app, sometime the existing widget on home screen does not load well. Please try re-adding widget 2-3 times. Check again if Widget is loading fine.

Fix 4: Add widget in different size

If the widget is not working in WidgetSmith, try loading the widget in different size and pattern. Check if the widget loads fine in other sizes.

Fix 5: Check with other WidgetSmith Widget

If now Widget Smith Widget is not working or loading, you should double check by adding some different type of Widget and see if that is also giving error like grey box. If all the Widgets are not loading in your iPhone then most likely it is an issue with iOS 14 in this case you should consider resetting your phone or doing a full restore.

Hopefully this article helps you to fix issued related to Widget Smith not working.

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