Pinlet vs Shortcut Launcher Widget
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pinlet
This app allows you to pin short text snippets to your iPhone's Dynamic Island and Lock Screen as Live Activities. It can extract text from screenshots, supports manual input, and keeps a history of your pinned items. Your data is private by default, with optional iCloud sync.
- Pin text to Dynamic Island and Lock Screen
- Extract text from screenshots
- Manual text input up to 120 characters
- History of pinned text with favorites
- Quick Input and Shortcuts integration
- Private by default, no ads or analytics
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Keep what matters right where you can see it. Pinlet turns a short piece of text into a Live Activity, so it can stay visible on Dynamic Island and your Lock Screen while you move through your day. Add a deadline, a pickup code, a short intention, or anything else you do not want to lose in a list. PULL TEXT FROM ANY SCREENSHOT Circle any part of a screenshot or photo and Pinlet reads the text for you. Fine-tune the result word by word or character by character, then pin exactly what you need — no retyping. WRITE AND PIN Enter up to 120 characters and pin them in one tap. Update the text whenever the important thing changes, or unpin it when you are done. STAY VISIBLE On supported iPhone models, pinned text appears on Dynamic Island. It also appears as a Live Activity on the Lock Screen. iOS controls Live Activity availability and may end an activity according to system policy. START FROM ANYWHERE Long-press the Pinlet icon for Quick Input, or use Shortcuts to pin text, unpin, or open a screenshot in Pinlet from anywhere on your phone. RETURN TO WHAT MATTERED Pinlet keeps a history of successfully pinned text. Mark useful entries as favorites, reuse them as a new draft, delete individual entries, or automatically clean up older nonfavorite history. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your content and any text recognition happen on your iPhone by default. Pinlet has no account system, advertising, third-party analytics, or custom server. OPTIONAL ICLOUD SYNC If you choose to enable iCloud sync, your history, favorites, and recent activity times are stored in your private CloudKit database and synced to devices using the same Apple Account. iCloud sync is off by default. Requires iOS 17 or later. Pinlet is designed for iPhone.
Shortcut Launcher Widget
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Shortcut Launcher Widget turns your Home Screen into a highly customizable launchpad for the Shortcuts you already have. There are no other apps on the App Store that offer this kind of layout precision and customization. Powered by the new iOS 27 APIs, tapping a tile runs your shortcut completely in place without any screen flicker or app bouncing. Because you have total control over the layout, you can break past the usual limits. Want to easily fit 3, 4, or even 5 shortcuts on a small widget? You can dial in the perfect grid. Pick up to 64 shortcuts and they become a beautiful grid of named tiles. This app is all about letting you build the exact widget you want. • Four widget sizes, including the new Extra Large full-page widget • 10 built-in color themes, or build your own custom look • Five density presets from edge-to-edge to roomy, or dial in exact margins, spacing, and corner radius yourself • Explicit column control: auto-fit, or pin 1, 2, 3, or more • Three backgrounds: a solid theme color, the system's own material, or your own wallpaper blended in behind the widget • Save multiple board presets and switch between them instantly No accounts. No network access. No analytics. No ads. Nothing to buy. It's a Home Screen tool, not a service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shortcut Launcher Widget at none against Pinlet's 1. Pinlet's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 27.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Pinlet sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shortcut Launcher Widget asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pinlet ships an update weekly, Shortcut Launcher Widget every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pinlet | Shortcut Launcher Widget |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 文峰 黄 | Matthew Hornung |
In-app purchases
Pinlet
- Coffee$1.99
Shortcut Launcher Widget
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pinlet free?
Is Shortcut Launcher Widget free?
Do Pinlet or Shortcut Launcher Widget have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pinlet or Shortcut Launcher Widget?
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