Widgets added on Sonoma saying "open app on iPhone to continue"

Not sure if this might help but thought I'd share it anyways:

Use widgets on your Mac desktop - Apple Support

I've found from another post that it should be using Continuity to connect to the iPhone app.

So, you would need to make sure the requirements are met.

I discovered that you need to open the widget on your iPhone to have it work on the Mac Desktop. Removing it from your iPhone disables it on the desktop.

iPhone: tap and hold on a Home Screen, then click the "+" in upper left.

Mac: two-finger-/control-/right-click on the desktop and choose "Edit Widgets..." from the contextual menu.

Yes, what is the point of showing an iPhone app's widget on your Mac desktop if you can't use it? These Mac widgets seem to have been custom designed for display on Mac. Why are they there if they don't work?

im having the same issue with the widgets. also the iphone selection box not showing is maybe it only appears when you have more than 1 iphone connected

hopefully this will get sorted soon via an update

I have a calendar app (timetree), I use the widget extensively on my phone, and I was so excited for it to be on my MBA desktop. But all I see is

I'm ok if I can't open it and edit events etc. on macOS, but even the basic display isn't working.

I must say, i'm a little disappointed.

It seems kind of ridiculous to put iPhone "widgets" on the Mac desktop if they don't offer some function other than to remind you to "open your iPhone" and use them there. And it would be really useful to have some functionality from my iPhone apps when using them on Sonoma. The whole thing seems unclear and unfinished to me.

I have the same issue as well. For widgets that get "populated" on mac, like news widgets (ex CNN), if I try to click on a story, I get the message to open the corresponding app on iphone to continue. Even if I do that, I'm not able to read anything on the mac. Not sure what the thought process was here....!

I don't have any answers. All i know is that I shouldn't have to purchase an app to see the batteries of all my Apple Products. The Venmo widget says open on iPhone but doesn't set up. And then there is not an app for Venmo just the website. It is so stupid right now. Maybe they will get it together. I did a feedback.

If these widgets for third party apps do not work, and it's the fault of the third party, like Amazon, Google, Ring, Oura Ring, Withings, etc. why DID Apple accept them to show up in the list of available widgets, in the first place?

They have a very good control on what apps are available on the App Store, they can't do the same here?

I mean, test them before providing them to the end-users?

OK that's good reasoning, you may be right... But, in that case why are they showing up in Sonoma if they are not supposed to be work, if they were written for iOS. Nobody was there from Apple to test them before releasing Sonoma?

Despite that, I remember that in one of the Sonoma presentations from Youtube, someone was saying that the iPhone, or iPad widgets can work now in Sonoma...

that truly makes this debacle even crazier 😂

i've had my desktop items hidden for years now as the concept annoyed me (having loads of files and folders in the background) i just use the desktop folder as a secondary Documents folder as it's sync'd, i don't have it all in background messing up my view of the wallpaper.

in any case, i just wanted to see what all the fuss was about re widgets, which i've always found to be irrelevant, barely useful, and your example of it working at the selection step, and then not working when added, just made me smh.

i found this thread because all the widgets i just added say that i have to open them on my iphone first, which is kind of weird, but then i do and f all happens. wtf is this madness.

there's no wonder they got rid of widgets before... they're just a solution looking for a problem.

I'm turning off my desktop items again (i don't want the contents of a folder splayed all over my wallpaper when i can just accss it as another folder in Finder), and i'm going back to having a uninterrupted wallpaper, as a wallpaper should be (btw, i use Onyx to turn off the desktop madness).

The 'desktop' metaphor is no longer needed in these days when we understand digital devices. lets enjoy our wallpaper and use our folders to put stuff away instead of splaying loads of soon-to-be-irrelevant files across our desktop as if we're teenagers leaving all our crap on the floor. Widgets, smh

btw, i'm back to using Plash again ("a website as desktop wallpaper"), you can find it on the app store, it makes the desktop useful instead of being a wall in the back

(i don't work for him, and it's a free app, and his other apps are v good too). just thought some people here might find it useful, have a good day :)