TerminalWidget Put Terminal Output on Your Desktop

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TerminalWidget for Mac, iPhone, and iPad | Terminal Widget

Put Terminal Output on Your Desktop

TerminalWidget lets you send output from commands, scripts, APIs, and Shortcuts directly to widgets across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS with rich formatting, progress bars, sparklines, and image support. It is available as a universal app on the App Store for $19.99 .

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Features

Output text from terminal commands or generate a wide variety of charts and tables from data

Multiple widgets can be targeted individually

Sync across multiple Macs and iOS devices

Display local or remote images, including those generated by APIs

Display images edge-to-edge

Full control over colors, fonts, and icon

Instant updates on macOS, rapid updates on iOS via iCloud

Full CLI included, incorporate into scripts

Shortcuts actions work on Mac and iOS, with AppleScript support and a URL scheme for automation

Display progress bars with any number 0-100

Display charts and graphs by passing serial integer data

Display matrix-style chart of integer values

macOS Widgets

Output any text, image, or chart data to fully customizable widgets

Use shell scripts or AppleScript output on macOS

Interact via Shortcuts or URL scheme on macOS and iOS

Assign actions to widgets to execute on tap/click

Text basic

Progress matrix

Radial chart

See the gallery

Mac + iPhone + iPad

Widgets sync across your Apple devices when iCloud is enabled.

iOS and iPadOS widgets support the same rich text, progress bar, and sparkline payloads.

Use the URL scheme or Shortcuts actions to update widgets from iPhone and iPad.

Existing CLI scripts continue to work the same for Mac workflows.

iOS progress trio

iOS chart styles

iOS image showcase

See the gallery

CLI Example

terminal-widget --target widget1 --text "Build complete" --icon "checkmark.seal.fill" --progress 100 --fg "#22c55e"

Read full CLI documentation

How it compares

TerminalWidget is a native widget surface you drive from tools you already use —<br>not a hosted monitoring product and not another static widget pack.

TerminalWidget<br>Typical alternatives

Footprint<br>Native Mac App Store app with WidgetKit widgets and a small CLI — no Electron shell or always-on web server.<br>Custom Electron/web dashboards or a self-hosted monitoring stack.

How you update<br>CLI, Shortcuts, AppleScript, or URL scheme targeting named widgets.<br>Agents, scrapers, or hand-built UI refresh loops.

Mac + iPhone + iPad<br>Same widget targets sync over iCloud when enabled.<br>Separate tools per platform, or your own sync relay.

What you can show<br>Text, progress, charts/sparklines, tables, and local or remote images.<br>Whatever you build into a custom dashboard — usually more setup.

Pricing<br>$19.99 one-time universal App Store purchase.<br>SaaS seats, infrastructure cost, or ongoing DIY maintenance.

FAQ

How do I update a widget from a script or remote job?<br>Use the included terminal-widget CLI with flags like --target, --text, --progress, --chart, --icon, and --fg, or push the same fields via Shortcuts, AppleScript, or the URL scheme. On Mac, updates apply immediately. On iPhone and iPad, content syncs through iCloud after TerminalWidget has been opened once and notifications are allowed so background pulls can wake the app.

Can tapping a widget run an action?<br>Yes. You can assign a tap/click action per widget target — open a URL, open a Mac app, run a Shortcut, run a shell command (macOS), or refresh from a URL. Actions sync with the widget payload over iCloud. On iOS, URL and Shortcut actions are supported; Mac-only app and shell actions fall back to normal open/update behavior.

What can widgets display?<br>Plain or formatted text, progress (0–100), sparklines and other chart styles, matrix-style integer displays, tables (CSV/TSV/JSON), and local or remote images including edge-to-edge layouts. Colors, fonts, icons, titles, and captions are configurable per update.

Do I need internet or iCloud for sync?<br>Local Mac updates work without the network. Cross-device sync uses iCloud, so each Mac, iPhone, and iPad should be signed into the same Apple ID with iCloud enabled for TerminalWidget. iOS and iPadOS also need notification permission so widgets can refresh in the background when another device updates a target.

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