Widget varies by device, but the note is the same

"Add Widget" sounds like a single gesture. It’s actually two. First, DeutschSprechen says what’s written on the note. Then the device adds the widget to the home screen. People new to the system often end up with an empty box and think there’s a mistake in the voice instructions. The mistake is in the order.

The Android widget and the iPhone widget aren’t the same gesture. The content is the same: current vocabulary words and the number of repetitions due. Three to seven words. Not the library.

First in the app, on both devices

Menu, App Settings, Widget. Check the box. Save. Open it after logging in; otherwise, the number might be wrong. Without logging in, the box remains politely empty or shows an outdated status. Only then should you interact with the system. Don’t do it the other way around, and don’t do both at the same time “just to be safe.”

What you check, you’ll see every morning. Checking everything creates a wall of text that you’ll ignore. The words that are giving you trouble this week are enough.

Android

Long-press an empty spot. Widgets. {{SpeakGerman}}. Choose the size offered by the manufacturer. Some hide the list under “Edit Home Screen.” Look on the home screen, not in the app info. Reset it after an update if the checkbox is gone. Aggressive battery modes keep the counter at zero. Remove the app from your strict savings list once you’ve learned your lesson and the number has stayed the same for days.

iPhone

The frame appears over the Home screen; press and hold, tap Plus, search for DeutschSprechen, and select the size offered by iOS. Same rule: the app has saved it previously. If only the frame is there after a system update, delete it and reset it. Don’t have to re-learn the words—they’re already on the device.

What the Number Means

Twelve due cards mean twelve cards. No score. Over twenty: only due cards today, no new ones. Under five: two new sets are allowed. The widget doesn’t practice. It reminds you. You create the cards in the app. Swipe, try again, or “I know it.” SRS—one-three-thirty-nine—the stack remains. The box just shows how many are due today.

If it stays empty

Save settings. Delete the widget. Add a new one. Check your login. In that order. Three steps, and then the box is full—or you’ll know your login is missing. A forum in between doesn’t change the process.

More on the idea: Words on the Screen. The Kılavuz: Widget.

Don’t Rearrange It Afterward

Once set up correctly, leave it alone. If you move the widget around every week, you won’t look at it. It’s supposed to become as mundane as a note on the door. In the morning: the number, eight cards, done. Whether it’s an Android widget or an iPhone widget, the evening looks the same.

What I Do With the Number

Fewer than five cards due: two new words, each with an example sentence that I say out loud—not just read. Between five and twenty: just the stack—either go through it again or I already know it. More than twenty: I do eight and leave the rest for tomorrow. This doesn’t turn the box red. It just stays a number. Anyone who reads it as a grade opens the app already stressed out and swipes faster than they speak.

After an update, I check once to see if the number matches the stack. If it doesn’t, delete the widget, save it in the app, and add it again. This applies to both the Android widget and the iPhone widget. The words themselves are stored locally. You don’t have to wait for a cloud sync before you touch the first card. If the counter freezes even though you’ve studied, take the app out of intensive battery saver mode. Then take another look.

One glance in the morning is enough. Don’t stare at the box all day just to make it feel like you’ve studied. The work is the stack. Adding the widget was just the nail.

DeutschSprechen fills the card. The device provides the nail. Adding the widget is a ten-second gesture. The weeks that follow are the actual use.