iOS 14 Tip: How To Use Smart Stacks

Apple introduces a slew of enhancements and new features to iOS 14, greatly improving the overall iPhone user experience.

One of these improvements come in the form of enhancements to Widgets – small features that will let users see important, relevant information at a glance. Now, iOS 14 users can place many widgets together in what Apple calls “Smart Stack.” These will let users have as many widgets they want on the screen without making the Home Screen look like a mess.

Apple's Smart Stack will let users manually cycle through their chosen widgets so they can see the information they need. It will also allow users to set it up so that it cycles automatically, letting them see the details they need without having to touch or swipe the screen.

It's easy to use Smart Stack. Here's how:

Adding widgets to the Home Screen

• Users will need to add a widget to the Home Screen before creating a Smart Stack. This can be done by pressing and holding on an app until a menu appears, then choosing Edit Home Screen. Otherwise, users can just press and hold on the app until iOS enters jiggle mode.
• Next, users should tap the plus (“+”) button located at the top-left corner of the screen.
• In the screen that appears, scroll through and look for a widget to add to the screen, tap on it, then adjust the widget size by swiping left or right.
• After that, tap on Add widget or drag it up from the list, then tap on Done when finished.

Creating a Smart Stack

Once the widget has been added to the Home Screen, users can then add more widgets to create a Smart Stack. Here's how.

• First, users will need to select a new widget from the list, then drag it on top of the existing widget in the Home Screen. A faint new border should appear around the Home Screen widget.
• Second, drop the new widget inside the faint border.
• Third, repeat the process to include more widgets. Users should tap on Done when finished.

Users who have several widgets on the Home Screen can also organize them by placing them inside a stack. This can be done by entering jiggle mode, then dragging a widget on top of another one.