Continuity does the work
The widget still runs on the iPhone; the Mac just draws it. Same Apple Account, phone nearby or on the same Wi-Fi, and the whole WidgetClock collection turns up in the Mac widget picker.
Mac
A clock on the desktop
without installing anything.
macOS Sonoma put widgets back on the desktop — and it can borrow them straight from your iPhone. Whatever face you picked on the phone appears next to your windows, with nothing installed on the Mac at all.
- 0
- Mac apps to install
- 0
- extra to pay
- Sonoma
- macOS 14 or later
The widgets are rendered on the iPhone and mirrored by macOS. Nothing is installed on the Mac — and while an app has focus, macOS dims them to a single tint.
The desktop is a big canvas
On a phone a widget competes for six rows of grid. On a 27-inch desktop it can sit in a corner and simply be beautiful — which is where the editorial, e-ink and analog faces earn their keep.
It fades when you work
macOS dims desktop widgets to a monochrome tint the moment an app takes focus, and brings the colour back when you clear the desktop. Faces built for the Lock Screen tint survive that gracefully.
Live previews
Faces worth putting on a desktop
Live previews. On the Mac these sit alongside your windows at roughly this size.
Why there is no Mac app to buy
There is a version of this page where we ship a separate Mac app, charge for it again, and maintain two codebases that drift apart. Continuity makes that pointless: the widget you already own renders on the Mac natively.
The one thing it costs you is that the phone has to be around. If the iPhone is off, out of range or on a different Apple Account, the widget shows its last drawn state and then goes quiet — that is Continuity, not the app.
Everything else carries over untouched: the city you set, the 12- or 24-hour choice, whether seconds show. Change it on the phone and the desktop follows within a minute.
Step by step
Put a clock widget on your Mac desktop
- 1
Check the basics
macOS Sonoma or later, the Mac and the iPhone on the same Apple Account, and the phone nearby or on the same network.
- 2
Turn on iPhone widgets
System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Widgets, and switch on “Use iPhone widgets”.
- 3
Open the widget picker
Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose Edit Widgets — or click the date in the menu bar and hit Edit Widgets at the bottom of Notification Centre.
- 4
Find WidgetClock
Switch the source at the bottom of the sidebar from “This Mac” to your iPhone. WidgetClock appears in the list.
- 5
Drag it onto the desktop
Drop it where you want it. Right-click the placed widget to change the design or the city.
Questions
Mac, answered.
Is there a Mac app for WidgetClock?
There does not need to be. macOS Sonoma and later can render your iPhone’s widgets on the Mac desktop through Continuity, so the app you bought for the phone works on the Mac with nothing extra installed and nothing extra to pay.
Which macOS versions support desktop widgets?
macOS Sonoma (14) introduced desktop widgets and iPhone widget Continuity; every later version keeps them. On older versions widgets live only in Notification Centre and cannot be borrowed from the phone.
Does my iPhone have to be nearby?
Yes. The widget is rendered on the phone and mirrored, so it needs the phone on the same Apple Account and either close by or on the same Wi-Fi network. Out of range, the widget freezes at its last state.
Why does the widget lose its colour?
That is macOS: desktop widgets dim to a monochrome tint while an app has focus, and return to full colour when you show the desktop. Nothing is wrong with the widget.
Can I use a different time zone on the Mac than the phone?
Each widget instance carries its own city, and that setting travels with it — so a widget pointed at Tokyo on the phone is pointed at Tokyo on the desktop too. Add a second instance for a second city.
A clock on the desktop
without installing anything.
Free on the App Store. iOS 16+. No account, no ads, no tracking.