7 Locket Widget alternatives worth trying in 2026
Locket Widget popularized the bestie-on-the-home-screen idea: snap a photo, your friends see it instantly inside a tiny live widget. It still does that one job better than most. The friction shows up around the edges. The friend list caps at 20. Video, bigger widgets, and custom backgrounds sit behind Locket Gold. Group threads and reactions feel thin once a circle grows past three people.
Here are seven Locket Widget alternatives we tested, sorted by the specific reason you might leave: stronger free tier, drawing instead of photos, daily-prompt format, group avatars, or a single all-in-one app.
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noteit | Doodles instead of photos | Yes | Free, premium upgrade | Drawing-to-widget canvas |
| Widgetable | One app with photos plus mood, pets, sleep | Yes | Free, Widgetable Plus | Shared pets and mood bubbles |
| BeReal | One honest moment per day | Yes | Free | Random two-minute daily window |
| Bondee | Avatar room for a small group | Yes | Free, cosmetic IAP | 3D space with up to 50 friends |
| Photo Widget | Just a clean photo rotation | Yes | Free | Multiple widget sizes, manual control |
| Snapchat | One app instead of seven | Yes | Free, Snapchat Plus | Bitmoji widget and Snap Map |
| Marco Polo | Short video memos instead of stills | Yes | Free, Plus tier | Async video messages to small groups |
Why people leave Locket Widget
The 20-friend cap is the biggest one. Locket frames the cap as a feature ("keep it intimate"), and that holds until your friend group hits 21 people, or until you join a new class, team, or city and want to add a few more. Users on Reddit raise this on a loop. Once you swap one friend out, the photo history with them goes quiet.
Video, bigger widgets, and backgrounds need Locket Gold. The free tier covers the basics, but the things people screenshot and share (bigger widget sizes, video clips, custom widget backgrounds, the longer photo history) all sit on the paid plan. New users notice the gating within a few days of installing.
Groups feel like an afterthought. Locket is structured around one-to-many broadcasts to the friend list. There is no real group thread, no grouped reactions, no way to pick "send only to these five". Friends who want a group chat layer usually keep a separate app open for it.
Reactions and replies are minimal. An emoji raining down is fun the first few times, then it stops conveying anything. Users coming from a richer chat app find the conversation layer too shallow to carry a real connection on its own.
The 7 best Locket Widget alternatives
Noteit, best for doodles instead of photos
Noteit reframes the bestie widget around drawing. Open the canvas, scribble a quick note or sketch, and it lands on your friend's home screen widget seconds later. The hand-drawn feel makes a "good morning" or an inside joke land differently than a photo would.
For close pairs or couples who liked Locket's gesture but want something more personal than a snapshot, Locket versus Noteit is a clean swap toward lower-volume, higher-intent sharing.
Where it falls short: The widget is built for two-person use. No video, no group, no photo history. The drawing tools on the free tier are basic.
Pricing:
- Free: drawing canvas, send and receive notes, basic widget
- Premium: extra colors, larger canvas, brush tools
- vs Locket: comparable free tier; Noteit wins on intimacy, Locket wins on photo realism
Migrating from Locket: Install Noteit, invite one friend by phone number, drop the widget on the home screen. Locket photos do not transfer.
Bottom line: Pick Noteit if drawing little notes to one friend is the whole vibe you want.
Widgetable, best for one app with photos plus mood and pets
Widgetable takes Locket's photo widget and surrounds it with the other things people kept asking for: a shared virtual pet, mood bubbles, distance widgets, sleep sharing, and a Pin It feature for sending a tiny surprise to a friend's home screen.
For users who used Locket as a starting point and kept wishing it did more, Locket versus Widgetable is the obvious step up on feature breadth.
Where it falls short: The trade-off is permissions creep. Location, sleep, contacts, and notifications all get prompted. Battery use is noticeably heavier. The trendiest themes and AI wallpapers sit behind Widgetable Plus.
Pricing:
- Free: photo widget, pet, mood, basic themes
- Widgetable Plus: full theme library, AI wallpapers, advanced widgets
- vs Locket: comparable free tier; Widgetable wins on breadth, Locket wins on focus and battery
Migrating from Locket: Install, re-invite your friend list, place the photo widget. Locket photo history does not import.
Bottom line: Pick Widgetable if you wanted Locket plus pets, mood, and sleep all in one place. Skip it if battery and permissions matter more.
BeReal, best for one honest moment per day
BeReal approaches the friend-update loop from a different angle. Once a day, at a random time, everyone gets two minutes to post a dual-camera photo of whatever they are doing. A home-screen widget surfaces the latest BeReals from friends in your circle.
For users who liked Locket as a daily-glimpse tool but want it scaled down to one intentional moment, Locket versus BeReal trades a steady drip of selfies for one shared snapshot of real life.
Where it falls short: The random-time prompt is divisive. There is no widget for sending a quick photo on demand, and the friend list does not surface as cleanly on the home screen as Locket's does.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set, no caps on friend count
- vs Locket: free for both; BeReal wins on signal-to-noise, Locket wins on on-demand photos
Migrating from Locket: Install, follow friends from your contact list, wait for the next BeReal notification.
Bottom line: Pick BeReal if one honest photo a day beats a steady stream of selfies. Skip it if the random prompt sounds annoying.
Bondee, best for an avatar room with a small group
Bondee swaps Locket's flat photo widget for a 3D virtual room where each friend has a customizable avatar. You decorate your space, drop by a friend's room, set a status, send messages, and watch a small circle of avatars react in real time.
For groups who used Locket to feel a friend's presence but want something more expressive than a frozen photo, Locket versus Bondee is a clear style shift. The room itself becomes the medium.
Where it falls short: The friend cap and 3D scene make Bondee heavier than Locket. The launch-day hype cycle has cooled, so your friends may need a reason to keep opening it.
Pricing:
- Free: avatar, room, status, chat with a small group
- Paid: cosmetic items, room decorations
- vs Locket: comparable free tier; Bondee wins on visual play, Locket wins on simplicity
Migrating from Locket: Install, build an avatar, invite the same friends. The Locket friend list does not import.
Bottom line: Pick Bondee if your friends will actually come back to a 3D room. Skip it if a passive photo widget was the point.
Photo Widget, best for just a clean photo rotation
Simple Photo Widget strips the format down to the bone. Pick photos from the gallery, drop a widget on the home screen, set how often it rotates, done. There is no friend list, no permissions creep, no paid tier locking the basics away.
For users who installed Locket mostly to keep a face on their home screen, and who do not actually need the friend half, Locket versus Photo Widget is the leanest possible swap. You lose the live updates, you gain control.
Where it falls short: No friend sync. No live photo arrivals. You choose what shows up, and you change it yourself.
Pricing:
- Free: full feature set
- vs Locket: free for both; Photo Widget wins on simplicity and battery, Locket wins on live friend feed
Migrating from Locket: Save any keeper photos out of Locket to your gallery, point Photo Widget at them, set the rotation interval.
Bottom line: Pick Photo Widget if the friend layer was the part you skipped anyway. Skip it if the live feed was the whole reason.
Snapchat, best for one app instead of seven
Snapchat rounds out the list as the catch-all answer. The Bitmoji widget shows your friends as their avatars on the home screen, Snap Map adds the location layer, and chat plus stories plus stickers fill in everything else. The widget surface is smaller than Locket's, but the friend graph is enormous.
For users who keep Locket open mostly because their close friends are there, Locket versus Snapchat is barely a comparison on reach. Most friends are already on Snapchat with an active streak.
Where it falls short: Snapchat does a lot more than widgets, and the widget side feels secondary to the chat and story side. The interface is heavier than a single-purpose app.
Pricing:
- Free: everything that matters for the widget use case
- Snapchat Plus: paid perks (custom themes, story rewatch indicator), none required
- vs Locket: free for both; Snapchat wins on reach, Locket wins on dedicated photo widget design
Migrating from Locket: Add friends from the contact list, enable the Bitmoji and Snap Map widgets from the home screen long-press menu.
Bottom line: Pick Snapchat if your friends are already there and you want widgets, chat, and location in one app. Skip it if a dedicated tool is the point.
Marco Polo, best for short video memos instead of stills
Marco Polo sits in the same "asynchronous, low-friction message to close people" space as Locket, but the unit is a short video instead of a still photo. Friends record a quick 30-second update; you watch when you have time and reply with one of your own. No live streaming, no follower count, no algorithm.
For families and small friend groups who want more context than a single frame, Locket versus Marco Polo trades the always-on widget for a small video library that builds up over the week.
Where it falls short: No home-screen widget. The push notification is the main surface, which works on mobile but fades for anyone who silences notifications.
Pricing:
- Free: send and receive video messages with friends and small groups
- Marco Polo Plus: longer messages, voice-only mode, more group tools
- vs Locket: comparable free tier; Marco Polo wins on richness per message, Locket wins on at-a-glance
Migrating from Locket: Install, invite each friend by phone number, record a hello video. Locket history does not import.
Bottom line: Pick Marco Polo if a 30-second video carries more than a still ever would. Skip it if the home-screen widget was the entire point.
How to choose
Pick Noteit if doodles to one bestie are the whole vibe.
Pick Widgetable if you wanted Locket plus pets, mood, and sleep all in the same app.
Pick BeReal if one honest moment a day beats a steady drip of selfies.
Pick Bondee if your circle will actually come back to a 3D room.
Pick Photo Widget if you only need a clean rotation of pictures you choose.
Pick Snapchat if your friends are already there and one app beats seven.
Pick Marco Polo if a short video says more than a photo.
Stay on Locket Widget if photos from a handful of best friends on the home screen is the entire job, the 20-friend cap is fine, and Locket Gold covers the extras you actually want.
FAQ
Is Noteit better than Locket Widget? Noteit is better if drawing to one friend is the use case. Locket is better if you want a live photo from each person in a small circle.
Can a Locket friend list move to another app? No app on this list imports a Locket friend list. Re-invite each friend by phone number or username on the new app.
What is the cheapest Locket Widget alternative? BeReal, Photo Widget, and Snapchat all run for free on the features that matter. Noteit, Widgetable, Bondee, and Marco Polo have premium tiers but the core widget or message loop works without paying.
Why does Locket cap friends at 20? Locket designs around close circles rather than follower counts. Users who outgrow the cap usually move to Widgetable, Snapchat, or BeReal, all of which scale further.
Does Locket support group chats? Not in any real sense. Photos broadcast to the friend list, reactions are emoji-only, and there is no group thread. Bondee, Snapchat, and Marco Polo handle group conversation better.
Which Locket alternative uses the least battery? Photo Widget is the lightest, since it does not run background sync. BeReal and Noteit also sit well below Locket and Widgetable on battery use.
