Lock Screen To‑Do List Without Widgets

You tried the widget. It showed “Buy groc…” and nothing else. iPhone Lock Screen widgets live in a strip roughly the size of two coins — great for battery percentage, hopeless for a to‑do list. Here’s how to get your whole list on the Lock Screen without touching a widget.

Why widgets can’t hold your day

Apple gives Lock Screen widgets a fixed strip beneath the clock: at most four circular slots or two rectangular ones. A rectangular Reminders widget fits one or two lines of truncated text. That means:

You see your next task, not your day.
Longer task names get cut off mid‑word.
No sense of progress — no counts, no checked‑off items.
Interacting with them requires unlocking anyway.

Widgets answer “what’s next?” — but the question that keeps you on track is “what does today look like?” That needs more space.

The widget‑free alternative: the wallpaper is the list

Your wallpaper is the largest surface on the Lock Screen — the whole thing. Render your task list into the wallpaper image and you get room for a real list: full task names, checkboxes, completed items with strikethrough, and a header telling you how many remain.

📱 Daylist: a full to‑do list, zero widgets

Daylist draws up to 8 tasks on a frosted card over a calm gradient, sized to sit cleanly below the iPhone clock. A one‑time Apple Shortcuts setup rebuilds and re‑sets the wallpaper automatically whenever you open or close the app, so the Lock Screen always matches your real list. If you have more than 8 tasks, it shows “+N more in Daylist.” No widget slots used — yours stay free for weather and battery.

Widget vs. wallpaper at a glance

Space: widget = 1–2 truncated lines · wallpaper = up to 8 full tasks
Progress: widget = none · wallpaper = live “N tasks remaining” + strikethroughs
Persistence: both persist, but the wallpaper is impossible to overlook
Setup: widget = 30 seconds · wallpaper with Daylist = about 2 minutes, once
Aesthetics: widget = system chrome · wallpaper = designed, and it is your aesthetic

Get set up in two minutes

Download Daylist and write down today’s tasks.
Install the shared “Update Daylist Wallpaper” Shortcut — one tap, guided in‑app.
Enable the personal automation the app shows you (app close).
Your full list is now your Lock Screen. Widgets optional, forever.

Your whole day, not one truncated line

Daylist gives your to‑do list the entire Lock Screen.

Download on theApp Store