Do you love how you can pin notes to your desktop on Windows or macOS? Well, you can add them to your iPhone’s home screen as well. All you need is a free app and the right widget.

Download Sticky Widgets from the App Store

Sticky notes are great for quickly noting something down and making sure it’s easily accessible. You can bring some of the same functionality to your iPhone home screen thanks to widgets that were first introduced in iOS 14.

To start, download the free Sticky app Widgets from the App Store. The app closely mimics the experience of real-life sticky notes. Once you add a widget to your iPhone’s home screen (in small, medium, or large size), you can tap it to edit the text. And true to its name, the Sticky Widgets app has the marquee yellow and pink backgrounds and the felt tip marker font.

Add Sticky Widgets to the Home Screen

The entire Sticky Widgets can be used from the widget itself. After downloading the app, head over to your iPhone’s home screen. Press and hold an empty part of the screen to enter the home screen editing mode.

Next, tap “Edit” in the top-left corner of the screen, and then select “Add Widget” in the menu that appears.

From the list of apps, choose the “Sticky Widgets” option.

You can now preview the three different sizes of widget (small, medium, and large). Swipe left or right to choose the one you want. Tap the “Add Widget” button to drop a widget on your home screen—for this example, we’re going with the Medium size.

Now that the widget is added, tap the “Done” button in the top-right corner to save the widget layout.

You can use these steps to add any widget to your iPhone’s home screen. You can even add apps to your iPhone’s lock screen, including Sticky Widgets.

How to Use the Sticky Widget Apps

Now that you have added Sticky Widgets to the home screen, tap “New” on the widget to create a new note.

Type your note and then tap the “Done” button to save it.

When you come back to your iPhone’s home screen, the sticky note won’t immediately show. To display it, long-press the widget and select “Edit Widget” in the menu.

Tap “Choose” next to the Note option in the pop-up. You will then see a list of notes you have created. Tap the one you want to show in the widget on the home screen.

You should see your note appear in the widget once you return to the home screen.

Try adding multiple notes by creating the widget again, then dragging it on top of your existing note to create a stack. You can now swipe up and down through your notes.

How to Customize the Sticky Widgets App

You can customize the background and the font in the widget as well. To do that, tap the widget to open your note. Then, tap “Customize” in the top-left corner.

In the Background section, tap the dropdown and choose between the “Classic Yellow,” “Classic Pink,” and the “Classic Blue” options.

In the Text section, tap the “Font” option and choose between the “MarkerFelt” (which is the default), “Noteworthy,” and “System” options.

The yellow background and the MarkerFelt font make for an iconic sticky note look. You can further customize the widget on this screen by changing the text alignment, font size, and rotation as well.

That’s it—you now have a functioning sticky note on your home screen. Tap on a widget at any time to remove and change the text shown on the widget. Add more widgets, in different sizes as well, or have multiple sticky notes stacked on top of each other.

There are more customization options available too, such as unlimited color options, style presets, and dark mode. However, you must pay for the subscription, starting at $1.49 per month, to unlock them. But if all you want is basic sticky notes on your home screen, there’s no need to pay a penny.