Weekend Buddy

Your weekends, on your Home Screen

See what’s on this weekend, and which ones are still free, without opening anything. Every widget comes in every size, and each one opens straight to the weekend it shows.

Coming soon to the App Store.

Tell me when it’s out Follow @weekendbuddyapp
An iPhone Home Screen with two Weekend Buddy widgets. The medium one shows this weekend, 18 to 20 September, day by day: drinks on Friday, parkrun and Ash’s 30th on Saturday, and Sunday marked Free, with “Next free 2 – 5 Oct” in the corner. The large one lists the next six weekends, two of them free.

This weekend

The medium widget lays the days out side by side: what’s on each, birthdays shown as the person, and the next free weekend in the corner when this one is spoken for. A pencilled-in plan is drawn dashed, because it doesn’t count you as busy.

The large one lists the next six weekends, with which days are still yours first and what’s on after. A long weekend gets its extra day, and days line up by weekday however many holidays a weekend picks up.

A medium Weekend Buddy widget. This weekend, day by day: Friday 18, drinks at Felons; Saturday 19, parkrun at New Farm and Ash’s 30th, with Ash turns 30; Sunday 20, Free, nothing on yet. Top right: Next free 2 – 5 Oct.
A large Weekend Buddy widget: Next six weekends, 2 are free. Each row has the dates, a block per day and a line: Sun free, drinks, parkrun; Fri and Sun free, Mum’s birthday lunch, Beach?; Free, Monday off, King’s Birthday; Fri and Sun free, grand final at Tom’s; Fri free, Noosa; Free.

Next free weekend, and the next six

Free weekends ahead puts the next six side by side, a column of days for each, with a word under each weekend: Free, Booked, Sun free. Free is always written as well as coloured.

The small widgets say the answer first. This weekend leads with “Sunday’s free” over a line for each day, and Next free gives the dates of the first free weekend ahead with its days underneath. If none of the next six is free, it says so and opens Find free.

A medium Weekend Buddy widget: 2 of the next 6 are free, September to October. Six weekends from 18 September to 23 October, each a column of day blocks, labelled Sun free, 2 days, Free, 2 days, Fri free and Free. The 2 October weekend has a fourth day for the holiday Monday.
Two small Weekend Buddy widgets. The first: This weekend, Sunday’s free, with Friday drinks at Felons, Saturday parkrun, and Sunday Free. The second: Next free, 2 – 5 Oct, in 2 weeks, long weekend, over day tiles for Friday 2 to Monday 5.

On the Lock Screen

A line beside the date with the next free weekend. A wider widget that says “Sunday’s free” over the weekend’s days, with free days outlined. And a round one counting how many of the next six are free.

They never show the name of anything in your calendar. Anyone can read a locked phone, so the Lock Screen gets dates and counts only.

The line beside the Lock Screen date: Thu 17, Next free 2 – 5 Oct.
Two Lock Screen widgets: This weekend, Sunday’s free, over Fri, Sat and Sun with Sun outlined; and a round widget showing 2 free.
The whole Lock Screen at 9:41, with the date line reading Next free 2 – 5 Oct and the two widgets at the bottom.

Light, dark, tinted and clear

The widgets follow your Home Screen. When iOS tints them or makes them clear, the colour goes, so a free day keeps its outline and its word.

The medium This weekend widget in dark mode, on warm dark paper with Sunday in a deep sunset colour.
Dark
The medium This weekend widget on a tinted Home Screen: glass, with the free Sunday drawn as an outline.
Tinted
The medium This weekend widget on a clear Home Screen: see-through glass, with the free Sunday drawn as an outline.
Clear

Adding a widget

On the Home Screen

  1. Touch and hold an empty part of the Home Screen until the apps jiggle.
  2. Tap Edit, then Add Widget, and choose Weekend Buddy.
  3. Swipe to the size you want and tap Add Widget. To change what it shows, touch and hold it and tap Edit Widget.

On the Lock Screen

  1. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap Customise and choose the Lock Screen.
  2. Tap the widget area under the clock, or the line above it, and choose Weekend Buddy.
  3. Tap Done.

Common questions

Do the widgets update on their own?

Yes, in two ways. When a weekend ends, the widgets move on to the next one by themselves, so Monday morning never shows the weekend just gone. When you open Weekend Buddy, they also pick up anything new in your calendar.

Can someone see my plans on my Lock Screen?

No. The Lock Screen widgets show dates, counts and which days are free, never the name of anything in your calendar, because anyone can read a locked phone. Event names only appear on Home Screen widgets.

How do I change what a widget shows?

Touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget, and pick This weekend, Next free weekend or Free weekends ahead under Show.

Why does a widget say to open the app?

The widgets draw from what the app last saw in your calendar. Before Weekend Buddy has been opened once, or when every weekend it knows about is over, there’s nothing to show yet. Opening the app fills them in.

Do the widgets use my colour?

Yes. If you’re a supporter, the widgets use the colour you picked in the app, the same as every screen and the icon.

More help is on the support page.