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Updated

How to Add a Contact to the iPhone Home Screen

With Favorites Widget

  1. Open Favorites Widget, tap “Choose Contacts”, and give access to your contacts. You can share all contacts or only some of them.
  2. Go to the Home Screen. Touch and hold the background until the apps jiggle, tap “Edit”, and tap “Add Widget”.
  3. Find Favorites Widget, tap it, swipe to the size you want, and tap “Add Widget”. The options of the widget open.
  4. Tap “Contact”, and choose the person. Then choose the “Action”, like “Call”, “Message”, “FaceTime Video”, or “Email”. Tap outside the options to close them.

Tap the widget to call or message the person. The widget shows the photo and the name of the contact. You can choose “Circle” or “Full Image” in “Style”, and give the contact another name in the options.

Tips

  • iOS asks before each call. To call with one tap, open the app, tap “Quick Call”, and follow the steps there.
  • Add one widget for each person. To put many people in a row, use the small size.
  • The widget also works on the Lock Screen. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap “Customize”, tap the Lock Screen, and tap the area of the widgets to add it.
  • A widget can also open WhatsApp or Telegram, open a URL, or run a shortcut.
  • If a contact is not in the list, make sure that it has a phone number or an email address. To find a contact that is not shown, search for it in the list.

Get Favorites Widget

Contacts on your Lock Screen and Home Screen

Download on the App Store

$3, one-time purchase

Platforms
iOS, visionOS
Requires
iOS or visionOS 27 or later
Category
Utilities
Released
September 2022
Privacy
No personal data collected
Family Sharing
Yes
Updated
October 2026
Version
1.9.0
Size
16 MB
US App Store rating
5.0/5 (17 ratings)

More about Favorites Widget

Without an app

iOS has a “Contacts” widget:

  1. Add the “Contacts” widget to the Home Screen, like in the steps above.
  2. Touch and hold the widget, tap “Edit Widget”, and choose the contact.
  3. To show the call and message buttons, turn on “Show Buttons”.

Tap a button to call or message the person. This works well, and it is free. If you only need a call and a message button on the Home Screen, you do not need an app. Favorites Widget adds more actions, like FaceTime and email, URLs, and shortcuts, and the whole widget is one big button.

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