Support

Help with Margin

• The wallpaper
• Adding widgets
• Quietening the rest
• Lists and Focus
• Lock Screen
• Common problems

The wallpaper

Widgets always sit on a background. A wallpaper in exactly the same colour makes those backgrounds disappear, which is what makes Margin look like text printed on the page.

1. In Margin, choose a theme, then tap Save matching wallpaper (or Save to Photos during setup). It's saved to Photos.
2. Open Settings › Wallpaper, add the saved image as a new wallpaper, and use it for the Home Screen.

If you change theme later, save and set the wallpaper again so the colours still match. Turn off any blur or depth effect for the Home Screen wallpaper, or the colour won't match exactly.

Adding widgets

Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and choose Margin.

A good starting layout is Today (medium) at the top with a Launcher (large) underneath. Or use one extra-large Home page widget to fill the whole page.

Each Launcher widget shows up to eight apps. If a page has more, add a second and third Launcher below: they show apps 1–8, 9–16 and 17–24 of that page's list. To choose which page and section a Launcher shows, touch and hold it and tap Edit Widget.

Quietening the rest

Optional, but this is what makes it feel calm:

• Move other apps to the App Library: touch and hold an icon, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. The app isn't deleted.
• Hide extra Home Screen pages: touch and hold the Home Screen, tap the page dots and untick pages you don't need.
• Turn off badges: Settings › Notifications › choose an app › turn off Badges.
• Clear the Dock: drag icons out of the Dock. It stays as an empty strip.

Lists and Focus

Margin starts with four lists: Default, Work, Personal and Sleep. Edit them, or add your own, in the app. Each list can have up to three pages, one for each Home Screen page, with up to 24 apps on each.

To switch lists with a Focus, go to Settings › Focus, choose a Focus, then add a Margin filter under Focus Filters and pick a list. When that Focus turns on, every Launcher widget changes to the list. When it turns off, they go back to Default.

Why isn't my app in the list?

A widget can only open another app by its link (its URL scheme), so Margin lists the apps that have one. That's 46 at the moment, including most of Apple's apps and popular ones like WhatsApp, Spotify, Slack, Signal, Notion and Obsidian. If there's an app you'd like added, email margin@mattoddie.dev.

Lock Screen

Touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customise, choose the Lock Screen, and tap the widget area. Margin offers Next up, Weather and Note, and App shortcut, which opens one app of your choice. Touch and hold an App shortcut widget while customising to choose its app.

Common problems

The widget backgrounds don't match the wallpaper

Check the wallpaper is the one Margin saved for your current theme, and that the Home Screen isn't set to blur it or use a different colour. In Settings › Wallpaper, tap Customise on the Home Screen and choose the original image.

Next up says "Allow calendar access in Margin"

Margin doesn't have access to your calendar. Go to Settings › Apps › Margin › Calendars and choose Full Access.

Weather says "Choose a place in Margin"

Open Margin and tap Use my location for weather. Margin only needs your location once.

Weather says "Weather unavailable"

Margin couldn't reach Apple Weather. Check your iPhone is online. Widgets refresh on a schedule iOS controls, so give it a few minutes after reconnecting.

Margin couldn't save the wallpaper

Allow it in Settings › Apps › Margin › Photos, then try again.

Widgets look out of date

iOS decides when widgets refresh, to save battery. Changing anything in Margin, such as your theme or a list, refreshes them straight away.