Comparison

Favorites Widget Pro vs Shortcuts

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

Head to head
About

Favorites Widget Pro

Instantly call or text your most important contacts directly from your lock and home screens. Organize contacts into groups for quick access and even send group messages. Integrates with popular messaging apps and ride-sharing services.

Highlights
  • Call & Text from Notification Center
  • Contact Groups
  • Unlimited Contacts & Groups
  • Multiple Messaging App Support
  • Ride-Sharing Integration
  • Customizable Styles
Features
Read full description

Call and text your favorite contacts directly from the Lock and Home Screens! Featured by Lifehacker! With Favorites Widget, it's one tap from the lock and home screen to call and text your favorite contacts. Support calling, message, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, email, and FaceTime. You can also organize contacts in groups (e.g. Family, Friends, Work) and access them directly from the widget or send group messages. Quickly order Uber or Lyft to your favorite places from the widget. Slack support: Quickly open your channels and Slack contacts from the widget. Features: ● Call & Text from the Notification Center ● Groups ● Unlimited contacts and groups ● Endless styles ● Call & Message ● WhatsApp ● Telegram ● Slack ● Facebook Messenger ● Email ● FaceTime & FaceTime Audio ● Uber and Lyft integration ● Full support for iOS 16

About

Shortcuts

Automate tasks on your device with custom multi-step actions. Create personalized workflows from a vast library of examples or build your own using drag-and-drop. Trigger shortcuts with a tap, Siri, or a home screen icon.

Highlights
  • Create multi-step shortcuts
  • Hundreds of example shortcuts
  • Drag-and-drop shortcut builder
  • Launch via Siri or tap
  • Home screen icons for shortcuts
  • Over 300 built-in actions
Read full description

Siri Shortcuts deliver a quick way to get things done with your apps with just a tap or by asking Siri. The Shortcuts app enables you to create personal shortcuts with multiple steps from your favorite apps. Start from hundreds of examples in the Gallery or drag and drop to create your own.  Shortcuts includes over 300 built-in actions and works with many of your favorite apps including Contacts, Calendar, Maps, Music, Photos, Camera, Reminders, Safari, Health as well as any app that supports Siri Shortcuts.  Use the Shortcuts app to: * Get directions home, send your ETA and start listening to the news, just by asking Siri * Add a home screen icon that calls a loved one  * Make animated GIFs * Make PDFs from Safari or any app with a share sheet * Get directions to the nearest coffee shop in one tap * Tweet the song you're listening to * Get all of the images on a web page * Send a message including the last screenshot you took * And so much more... Shortcuts can be launched from the Today widget, from Search or by asking Siri. You can even add an app icon to your home screen for your favorite Shortcuts.  Shortcuts opens up incredible possibilities to automate things you do regularly on your iPhone and iPad.

Screenshots

Favorites Widget Pro4 screens
Shortcuts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shortcuts at none against Favorites Widget Pro's 1. Shortcuts also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). Favorites Widget Pro's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks) and review sentiment (73% vs 52%). On price, ratings volume and ads 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. Favorites Widget Pro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shortcuts asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Favorites Widget Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.8K and 8.5K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Favorites Widget Pro's written reviews are positive against 52% of Shortcuts's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Favorites Widget Pro ships an update every 4 days, Shortcuts every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Favorites Widget Pro versus Shortcuts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFavorites Widget ProShortcuts
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (3.8K ratings) — better4.2 (8.5K ratings)
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews — better52.1% of reviews
Number of ratings3.8K8.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB136 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGuy GubiApple Inc.

Customer experience

Favorites Widget Pro

All ratings3,802 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral6.2%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews845 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral7.9%
Negative19.1%

Shortcuts

All ratings8,527 ratings
Positive79.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative14.4%
Written reviews1,750 reviews
Positive52.1%
Neutral15.6%
Negative32.3%

User reviews

Favorites Widget Pro

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy access to contacts
  • 👍 Convenient widget
  • 🚀 Quick dialing
  • 👍 Useful features
  • 👍 Customizable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with iOS 14/15
  • 🐛 Unreliable functionality
  • 💰 Paywall for full features
  • 🔍 Limited customization options
  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior

Shortcuts

From 8.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful automation capabilities
  • 👍 Customizable app icons
  • 🚀 Efficient workflow creation
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with iOS

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior with certain actions
  • 🐛 Buggy home screen integration
  • 🔒 Limited permissions control
  • 🔋 Potential device slowdown with extensive use

Bugs and requests

Favorites Widget Pro

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 3D Touch not working
  • Widget not loading properly
  • Inability to restore premium purchase
  • Contacts not displaying correctly

Requested features

7 requests
  • Larger contact icons
  • Multiple widgets/pages
  • More communication options (e.g., Instagram)
  • Ability to choose contact number
  • Transparent widget background
Show 2 more
  • Alphabetical contact order
  • Larger text/icons for accessibility

Shortcuts

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Shortcuts database corruption issues
  • Crashes when running certain workflows
  • Inconsistent behavior with location-based shortcuts
  • Issues with sharing and exporting shortcuts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved Apple Watch integration
  • More granular control over shortcuts
  • Ability to run shortcuts in the background
  • Better documentation and tutorials
  • Expanded third-party app support

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Favorites Widget Pro

One-time1
  • Premium Features$1.99
None

Shortcuts

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Favorites Widget Pro free?
Favorites Widget Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shortcuts free?
Shortcuts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Favorites Widget Pro or Shortcuts?
Favorites Widget Pro is rated higher. Favorites Widget Pro averages 4.4 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Shortcuts averages 4.2 from 8.5K ratings.
Do Favorites Widget Pro or Shortcuts have ads?
Neither Favorites Widget Pro nor Shortcuts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Favorites Widget Pro or Shortcuts?
Favorites Widget Pro ships an update every 4 days, and Shortcuts every 6 weeks. Most recently, Favorites Widget Pro was updated on October 29, 2026 and Shortcuts on October 31, 2026.

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