MasaApps360
English
Countdown

Put a Christmas countdown on your iPhone Lock Screen

Create a Christmas event in Countdown with Include Time on and the time set to 12:00 AM on December 25, then add the Countdown widget to your Lock Screen. Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday, and on October 7 the widget reads 79 days. All widget sizes are free.

3 min read · Updated 2026-09-15

Download on the App Store

Create the Christmas event

  1. Open Countdown and tap + to open New Countdown.
  2. Type a Title, for example Christmas 2026, and pick the tree emoji yourself. The holiday category gives you a palm tree by default, which is fine for a beach trip and odd for December.
  3. Choose December 25, 2026.
  4. Turn on Include Time and set it to 12:00 AM.
  5. Tap Save.

That fourth step is the one most people skip, and it matters more than it looks.

Why Include Time matters for Christmas

With Include Time off you only pick a day, but the event keeps the time of day you created it. Make the event at 3:42 PM and Countdown counts to 3:42 PM on December 25. On Christmas morning the widget shows 0 days, and the event only turns Completed in the middle of the afternoon.

Setting 12:00 AM makes the countdown end exactly as Christmas Day starts. If your family opens presents at 7, set 7:00 AM instead: it is your countdown.

Add it below the Lock Screen clock

  1. Lock the iPhone, touch and hold the Lock Screen until it zooms out, and tap Customize.
  2. Tap the widget area under the clock.
  3. Find Countdown in the list and pick the rectangular widget: it shows the tree, the title and the days left. The circular one only fits the number.
  4. Tap Done.

For the Home Screen, touch and hold an empty spot, tap the add button, search Countdown and pick small, medium or large. Home Screen widgets keep the event's background and accent color, so a red or green gradient picked in the editor shows up there.

How many days until Christmas the widget will show

The widget redraws once a day, just after midnight on your iPhone, and shows whole days. With the event set to 12:00 AM on December 25:

Christmas 2026 countdown, event at 12:00 AM on Friday, December 25
Widget redraws atWidget shows
Wednesday, October 7, 12:00 AM79 days
Tuesday, December 1, 12:00 AM24 days
Thursday, December 24, 12:00 AM1 day
Friday, December 25, 12:00 AMCompleted

Open the event in the app for the exact time left. At 9:00 AM on October 7 it reads 78 days and 15 hours, with the seconds ticking.

Christmas Eve and New Year too

The free version holds 3 events, which is exactly Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year if you have nothing else counting down. The widget always shows the soonest one, so Christmas Eve leads, then Christmas.

After December 25 the Christmas event stays first as Completed. Long-press it in the app and choose Archive, and the widget moves on to New Year. Archived events are kept; Unarchive brings them back from the Archived filter.

When the widget looks stuck

  • It shows yesterday's number: widgets redraw once a day, after midnight. Edit or add any event and every widget updates right away.
  • It shows a different event: it picks the soonest event that is not archived. Archive the ones in front of Christmas.
  • It says Completed in December: check the event's time. Without Include Time it may be counting to the wrong hour, or to last year if the date was 2025.
  • It is blank after you deleted and reinstalled the app: events live only on that iPhone, with no account or iCloud copy, so make the event again.

There is no way to set your own photo as the background, in the app or on the widget. You get Solid, Gradient and Glass for free; the Stars background, which suits December, is one of the paid ones.

Questions and answers

Is the Christmas countdown widget free?
Yes. Every Lock Screen and Home Screen widget size is free in Countdown, and the free version holds up to 3 events. The paid upgrade adds more events, more display styles and backgrounds, and repeating events.
Why does my Christmas countdown show 0 days on Christmas morning?
The event was saved without a time, so it kept the time of day you created it and counts to that hour on December 25. Turn on Include Time and set 12:00 AM.
Can the widget show hours and minutes until Christmas?
The Lock Screen widgets show days only. The large Home Screen widget has a timer line that iOS keeps running, and the app shows days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Can I count down to Christmas on more than one iPhone?
Only by making the event on each one. Countdown has no account or iCloud sync, so events stay on the iPhone where you made them.

You might also like

More Countdown guides