Best Year Progress Apps and Widgets for iPhone in 2026: 5 Compared
Checked 20 October 2026. Every competitor detail below comes from that app's US App Store page and Apple's public lookup data, fetched that day. Left details come from the app itself.
A year progress app shows how much of the year has gone and how much is left, as a percentage, a bar, a ring or a grid of days. Put it on your Home Screen or Lock Screen and it quietly answers "where did this year go?" before December does. Most apps in this niche are small, so here are the five we'd actually consider on iPhone.
Disclosure: we make Left, so we have put it first. Here is why, and when another app suits you better.
Quick verdict
- Best for year progress everywhere on your iPhone, free: Left.
- Best general progress-widget app with an Apple Watch: Countdown - Pretty Progress.
- Best dedicated year progress app with a wallpaper and Watch complications: Year Progress: Widget.
- Best for many visual styles with a one-time unlock: Orbit: Year Progress & Life.
- Best completely free dots grid: Life Dots: Visualize Time.
Comparison table
Ratings and counts are from the US App Store, checked 20 October 2026. "Not stated" means the listing doesn't mention it, not that the feature is missing.
| App | Price model | Home Screen | Lock Screen | Wallpaper | Apple Watch | Rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Left | Free (year progress, Year widget and wallpaper) | Yes | Yes | Yes, updates itself | No | Not shown (our app) |
 Countdown - Pretty Progress | Free; Pro weekly, monthly, yearly or lifetime | Yes | Yes | Not stated | App and complications | 4.7 (3,109) |
 Year Progress: Widget | Free; low-cost in-app purchases | Yes | Yes | Yes (generator) | App and complications | 5.0 (3) |
 Orbit: Year Progress & Life | Free; one-time Premium | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | 4.9 (11) |
 Life Dots: Visualize Time | Free, no in-app purchases | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | 5.0 (33) |
1. Left: year progress on the Home Screen, Lock Screen and wallpaper
Left is a time awareness app for iPhone. Its Time Left tab shows the year as a grid of days, with the days that have passed dimmed, next to month, week, day and life views.
- Year widget: small, medium and large on the Home Screen, and circular, rectangular and inline on the Lock Screen. Show the year in days, weeks, months, hours or minutes; show the amount left, the percent left, or no text; pick from 14 symbols, including dots, squares, stars, hearts and hexagons; and choose a light, dark, black or colored background.
- The rest of the year at a glance: Month, Week and Day widgets, Months and This week widgets that fade what has passed, and an Everything widget that shows day, week, month and year progress together.
- Left Wallpaper: a Lock Screen wallpaper of the year in days, weeks or months, with a legend such as "73 days left". A Shortcuts automation refreshes it every day.
- StandBy: the small widgets work in StandBy as standard widgets.
- Beyond the year: countdowns in Ahead, habits and streaks in Since, and your life in weeks.
Best for: people who want year progress in more than one place, styled to match their Home Screen, without paying for it.
Price: free to download. Time Left, the Year, Month, Week, Day and Everything widgets and Left Wallpaper are free. Left Premium adds unlimited countdowns, habits, streaks and Aims, Planner and more, as a subscription or lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Pros: free year, month, week and day widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen; a self-updating wallpaper; lots of symbol and unit choices; a free web version at getleft.app/web.
Cons: iPhone only, with iOS 26 or later; no Apple Watch app or complications; the wallpaper needs a one-time Shortcuts setup; it does far more than year progress, which some people won't want.
2. Countdown - Pretty Progress
By keinois OU. Its App Store page lists default yearly, monthly, weekly and daily progress, plus percent complete, time left or time since for any date, with recurring events and Calendar and Reminders import.
Best for: people who want year progress and custom countdowns in the same set of widgets, with the Apple Watch covered.
Price: free to download. The listing says the free version includes four custom countdown widgets with two designs, the default daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress, and some customization. Pretty Progress Pro is offered weekly, monthly, yearly or as a lifetime purchase.
Pros: by far the most ratings of the apps here (4.7 from 3,109); Home Screen widgets in three sizes, Lock Screen, StandBy and Watch complications; iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, Watch and Mac with Pro.
Cons: the free version is limited to four custom countdown widgets with two designs; a wallpaper isn't mentioned; most design options sit in Pro.
3. Year Progress: Widget
By Samet Pilav. Its App Store page describes an exact year percentage, remaining days and a day grid calendar, with theme presets, custom colors, symbols such as stars and diamonds, and share cards. A February 2026 update (version 1.5) added a Lock Screen wallpaper generator that shows year progress behind the clock.
Best for: a single-purpose year progress app that also covers the wrist.
Price: free to download, with two low-cost in-app purchases (an Unlimited unlock and a Yearly Premium). The listing doesn't spell out the free limits.
Pros: Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, with support for iOS 26 tinted widgets; an Apple Watch app with percent and days-remaining complications; a wallpaper generator.
Cons: only 3 ratings so far; last updated in February 2026; the listing calls the wallpaper "dynamic" but doesn't explain how it updates.
4. Orbit: Year Progress & Life
By Rahul Singh. Its App Store page lists ten year progress styles, including Ring, Matrix (a dot grid), Wave, Blocks, Line and Pill, plus countdowns with days remaining, day number and percent complete.
Best for: people who care most about how the progress looks, and prefer to pay once.
Price: free to download. Per the listing, the free version includes unlimited countdowns, year progress in the Ring style, basic Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets and calendar sync of 2 events. Orbit Premium, a single in-app purchase, unlocks all styles, 12 accent themes, smart reminders, full widget customization and unlimited calendar sync.
Pros: Lock Screen circular, rectangular and inline widgets; one-time purchase; privacy label says Data Not Collected; updated in October 2026.
Cons: most styles need Premium; 11 ratings; not listed for iPad, and an Apple Watch app isn't mentioned.
5. Life Dots: Visualize Time
By The Digital Minimalist Pte. Ltd. Its App Store page says it shows "how much of your day, month, year, or expected lifespan has passed through a simple grid of dots", with a widget for the Home Screen or Lock Screen.
Best for: a free, minimal dots view with no purchases.
Price: free, with no in-app purchases listed.
Pros: free; privacy label says Data Not Collected; day, month, year and lifespan in one app; 5.0 from 33 ratings.
Cons: a short listing with few customization details; no wallpaper or Apple Watch support mentioned.
How we chose
- Search first: we searched the US App Store for "year progress", "time progress", "progress widget", "year percent" and "dots year" on 20 October 2026. Many results had few ratings or no recent updates.
- Current only: we kept apps updated in 2026 that show year progress as a core feature. We dropped several apps last updated in 2023 or 2025, and apps with no ratings.
- Sources: each app's own App Store page and Apple's lookup data. No paid placements, and no developer reviewed this page.
- Small numbers: Year Progress: Widget, Orbit and Life Dots each have fewer than 50 ratings, so treat stars as a weak signal and try the free version first.
Which one should you pick?
- You want year progress on the Home Screen, Lock Screen and wallpaper, free: Left.
- You want it on your Apple Watch: Countdown - Pretty Progress or Year Progress: Widget.
- You want lots of styles and to pay once: Orbit.
- You want the simplest free dots: Life Dots.
Curious how the number is worked out? What is year progress? explains the calculation, and the percentage of the year calculator and time left in the year calculator give you today's figure in the browser. To set up a widget, see adding a widget to the Home Screen and adding one to the Lock Screen.
See more examples on the Left year progress widget page.
Questions
Is there a year progress widget for iPhone?
Not built in, but several apps add one. Left's Year widget works on the Home Screen, Lock Screen and in StandBy for free, and Countdown - Pretty Progress, Year Progress: Widget, Orbit and Life Dots all list year progress widgets.
How do I show the percentage of the year on my Lock Screen?
Add a year progress widget to the Lock Screen. In Left, add the Year widget as a circular, rectangular or inline Lock Screen widget and set its text to percent left. Left Wallpaper can also draw the year as the Lock Screen wallpaper.
What is the best free year progress app?
Left's year progress, Year widget and wallpaper are free. Life Dots lists no in-app purchases at all, and Orbit's free version includes year progress in its Ring style.
Can I see year progress on my Apple Watch?
Yes, with Countdown - Pretty Progress or Year Progress: Widget, which both list Apple Watch complications. Left doesn't have an Apple Watch app.
How is year progress calculated?
Divide the days that have passed this year by the days in the year (365, or 366 in a leap year) and multiply by 100. Our guide to year progress walks through the calculation.
Start noticing what matters.
Download Left on your iPhone to see the time you have left, dates you are looking forward to, build the habits you want to keep, and become a better version of yourself.
Scan or search "Left" on the App Store.