Comparison

Widget Custom HomeScreen vs Element Note

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Widget Custom HomeScreen

Personalize your iPhone or iPad with custom themes, icons, and widgets. Transform your home screen with aesthetic wallpapers and unique styles. Integrates with the Health app for fitness tracking widgets.

Highlights
  • Customizable widgets (small, medium, large)
  • Icon packs for custom shortcuts
  • Themed colors, fonts, and styles
  • 500+ 4K & HD Live wallpapers
  • Health app integration for fitness widgets
  • Step-by-step guides for setup
Features
Read full description

Make your iPhone or iPad look exactly the way you want it. Widget Custom HomeScreen is the all-in-one personalization app for iPhone and iPad — with 5,000+ icons, 500+ themes, animated widgets, full Lock Screen customization, and a library of 500+ 4K live wallpapers. Whether your style is minimal and clean, bold and colorful, or aesthetic and moody, you'll find a theme that feels like you. - WHAT'S INSIDE Widgets • Animated & static widgets — small, medium, and large • Lock Screen widgets (iOS 16 and above) • Health widgets — step count, move ring, exercise & stand from Apple Health Icons & Themes • 5,000+ custom icons, applied through the native iOS Shortcuts app • 500+ complete themes — each includes matching icons, wallpapers & widgets • Icon styles that complement iOS 26's Default, Dark, Tinted & Clear modes Wallpapers • 500+ 4K & HD live wallpapers • Aesthetic collections updated regularly - HOW IT WORKS Browse themes, tap one you love, and follow the simple step-by-step setup guide. Your Home Screen and Lock Screen transform in minutes. Icons work through iOS Shortcuts — no jailbreak or third-party tools required. - HEALTH & FITNESS WIDGETS Connect Widget Custom HomeScreen to Apple Health to show your daily step count, move ring, exercise minutes, and stand progress directly on your Home Screen or Lock Screen. Compatible with all iPhones and iPads running iOS 14 or later. SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS • Monthly: $9.99/month — includes a 3-day free trial • Yearly: $29.99/year Payment is charged to your Apple ID at purchase confirmation and renews automatically. Cancel anytime in iOS Settings at least 24 hours before the next renewal date. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when upgrading to a paid plan. Privacy Policy: https://widgetsapp.net/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://widgetsapp.net/terms-of-use.html EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Have a feature request or need help? We'd love to hear from you: https://support.widgetsapp.net/support/tickets/new

About

Element Note

This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Unique handwriting brushes
  • Smooth drawing engine
  • PDF annotation
  • Text, shape, and image attachments
  • On-device OCR search
  • Smart dark mode
  • iCloud sync and collaboration
Features
Read full description

Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy

Screenshots

Widget Custom HomeScreen4 screens
Element Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Element Note at 69% against Widget Custom HomeScreen's 26%. Element Note also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and rating (4.6 vs 4.1). Widget Custom HomeScreen's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Widget Custom HomeScreen sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Element Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Element Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.8K and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Widget Custom HomeScreen's written reviews are positive against 69% of Element Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Widget Custom HomeScreen ships an update monthly, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Widget Custom HomeScreen versus Element Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWidget Custom HomeScreenElement Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (2.8K ratings)4.6 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.3% of reviews68.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.8K — better2.6K
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size214 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGREEN DYGITAL CONSULTING LLPSoysauce Lab

Customer experience

Widget Custom HomeScreen

All ratings2,758 ratings
Positive76.3%
Neutral6.1%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews167 reviews
Positive26.3%
Neutral12.0%
Negative61.7%

Element Note

All ratings2,591 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews340 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral11.8%
Negative19.7%

User reviews

Widget Custom HomeScreen

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 💡 Customizable widgets
  • 👍 Aesthetic options

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall for most features
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🤔 Limited free options

Element Note

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
  • 💡 Customizable pens and colors
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
  • 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Search function not working
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
  • 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

Bugs and requests

Widget Custom HomeScreen

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Widgets not saving properly
  • App icons not working as expected
  • Frequent crashes and freezes

Requested features

3 requests
  • More free widget options
  • Improved organization and search
  • Halloween and Christmas themed widgets

Element Note

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes and files randomly disappearing
  • Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
  • Handwriting recognition not working as expected
  • Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ruler tool
  • Ability to resize/rotate selections
  • Improved text editing and formatting
  • Presentation mode for connecting to displays
  • Ability to import/export multiple files at once
Show 1 more
  • Seasonal or custom sticker packs

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Widget Custom HomeScreen

Subscriptions3
  • Widget CustomHomeScreen:weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Widget Custom HomeScreen: PRO3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Widget$29.991 Year
One-time3
  • Buy any one theme or icon pack$4.99
  • Limited Time Special Offer$9.99
  • Widget App Lifetime Offer$19.99
5 purchases

Element Note

Subscriptions2
  • Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
  • Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time3
  • Lifetime Launch Special$4.99
  • Lifetime$9.99
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Widget Custom HomeScreen free?
Widget Custom HomeScreen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Widget Custom HomeScreen or Element Note?
Element Note is rated higher. Widget Custom HomeScreen averages 4.1 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.6K ratings.
Do Widget Custom HomeScreen or Element Note have ads?
Widget Custom HomeScreen shows ads; Element Note does not.
Which is updated more often, Widget Custom HomeScreen or Element Note?
Widget Custom HomeScreen ships an update monthly, and Element Note fortnightly. Most recently, Widget Custom HomeScreen was updated on October 11, 2026 and Element Note on October 13, 2026.

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