# Search "Widgetsmith" on Google Play and the top result isn't Widgetsmith: a brand-name lookalike with 40k installs · Mobile app

> Source: https://stringers.io/en/apps/play_com.custom.widget.builder.html (Stringers / 什么值得做, generated 2026-11-08)
> Stringers answers one question every day: what small product can one or two people build in a few months and actually make money from. Numbers come from 15 databases we collect daily, each with source and date.
> For agents: these verdicts and the underlying databases (verified revenue, App Store / Google Play charts, ad libraries, GitHub, Product Hunt…) are queryable live over MCP — tools today / hot / products / directions / direction / data. Setup: https://github.com/komako-workshop/stringers (the user logs in at stringers.io → "配置 agent" to get a personal URL). Site index: https://stringers.io/llms.txt

> Widgetsmith has never had an official Android version, so people who want it search the name and find this. In late October, daily installs suddenly jumped to about 6,000, most likely combined with paid buys.

[Mobile App](https://stringers.io/en/apps/index.md) · Android · written 11-6

Widgetsmith (DDapper Apps, unofficial) · DDapper Apps

# Search "Widgetsmith" on Google Play and the top result isn't Widgetsmith: a brand-name lookalike with 40k installs

**What it is** An Android home-screen widget and wallpaper app that borrows the name of the iOS favorite Widgetsmith, priced at $19.99–$29.99 per year or as a one-time purchase.

**Why it took off** Widgetsmith has never had an official Android version, so anyone looking for it searches the name and finds this app. Daily installs jumped to about 6,000 in late October, most likely with paid acquisition layered on top.

**C** **How you could follow this** Don't impersonate. Instead, look for gaps: pick an iOS app that's popular but has no Android version from its author, build the core features well under your own name, and capture brand long-tail searches with "the Android alternative to XX" plus Reddit and TikTok questions.

Grade C: The search gap of "iOS hit with no Android version" is real and worth studying. But this one gets its traffic by directly using other brands' trademarks. The same play was pulled from the store within 2020 days in 12, the traffic wave is small and already fading, so copying it isn't worth it. Few people know about it yet

Data (updated daily) · first launch 2026-10-14 · 11-07 installs 41,420

Android · Total installs worldwide

Data 2026-10-30 → 2026-11-07 (9 days, 9 observations). Google's detail page only refreshes install counts every other day, so a flat day doesn't mean nobody installed.

In November 6, type widgetsmith into the Google Play search box and the first result is called Widgetsmith, with an icon, screenshots and feature copy that look legit. But the real Widgetsmith is a widget app on iPhone, and its author David Smith has never released an Android version in six years. The top result was published in October 14 by a developer called DDapper Apps and has racked up 41k installs in just over three weeks. Almost all of its traffic comes from the name, and the product itself is nothing special. Below: which traffic stream it's riding, how much of that stream is left, and which half of it you can actually take.

### A gap that sat empty for six years

In 2020 September, iOS 14 opened up home-screen widgets, and Widgetsmith instantly became the poster child of the iPhone customization wave. Today it has 779k ratings on the US App Store, averaging 4.6 stars (App Store, 11-06). Its official site links only to the App Store, with no Android version.

Android users who want it have been there all along. Reddit threads titled "Widgetsmith for Samsung" have been around since 2020, and r/androidapps and r/Widgetsmith both have people asking "Widgetsmith alternative for android?" The top reply is always "I've been using KWGT for years." YouTube videos like "Can you use Widgetsmith on Android" and "How to use Widgetsmith on Android" keep getting views, and the matching TikTok hashtag page was still updating in November 2. People who switched to Android, and people who scroll past iPhone home-screen videos, type exactly this name into the Play Store.

Play has never had a working app with this name, only a few empty "Widgetsmith tutorial"-style shells. DDapper Apps simply took the name.

### What it is and who made it

The feature list is written against the original's: photo widgets (with frames, filters and text), clock, calendar, countdown, world clock, text widgets, in three sizes, with 14 fonts, matching wallpapers, "theme from photo", and AI wallpapers in the Pro version. The store page carries no ad label. In-app purchases run $19.99–$29.99 per item, sold as a yearly subscription or a one-time purchase (Google Play store page, 11-06).

The developer display name is DDapper Apps. The legal entity is a Wyoming LLC, the address is a registered-agent public address, the phone number is a Pakistani number, and the support email is a personal Gmail. The account has only one other app, a QR code scanner. It looks like one person or a very small team (inference). The current version is 1.0.0; it was updated once in October 17, with release notes saying "for easier access for reviewers and testers".

### Where the traffic comes from

**Brand-name search is confirmed.** Searching widgetsmith on Play ranks it first, ahead of established apps with tens of millions of installs like Color Widgets and KWGT (Play search results, 11-06). Searching "Widgetsmith Android app Google Play" on Google also leads straight to its store page. People searching this term want "Widgetsmith," and they install whatever looks like it.

**It most likely stacked paid acquisition.** On October 27 and 28 it was still adding only about two hundred installs a day. On Oct 30 it suddenly jumped to roughly 6,200, then fell back to 2,500–4,400 a day (third-party estimates of daily installs, 10-27 to 11-06). Cumulative installs went 7,018 (10-30) → 19,441 (10-31) → 32,754 (11-03) → 41,420 (11-06) (Google Play installs). Its chart placements don't look purely organic either: its best Top Free rank in the Productivity category was #68 in the Philippines, and it placed #100–#200 in France, the UK, Canada, Poland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and never charted in the US store. Brand-wise, the US should be where most people search for Widgetsmith, but ad spend that gets allocated automatically by cost would reach cheap markets like the Philippines and Turkey first (inference). I didn't find it in the ad records I could check, but those records are incomplete, so not finding it doesn't mean it wasn't advertised.

**No content, no word of mouth.** Nobody has mentioned it on X in nearly 30 days, and no TikTok video covering it turns up in search. Despite 40k+ installs, the store page has no public rating and not a single review. Either users installed it, tried it briefly and left, or ratings haven't been published yet, and outsiders can't tell which.

Measured against the category, this volume is small. In the same week, Theme Widgets, released in October 23, reached 810k installs in 7 days, iWidgets reached 750k, and Glass Widgets, released in October 21, reached 65k (Google Play install counts, 10-30 to 11-06). None of them rode someone else's name; they relied on generic keywords and paid acquisition.

### Where the money comes from

It is in-app purchase only, $19.99–$29.99, with no ads. The high ticket price makes sense because the traffic is one-off: people who arrive by searching the brand often don't stick around, and the small slice that pays within the first few minutes is the entire revenue. It has never charted in any country's top-grossing list, and its revenue and conversion rate aren't visible. If it really is running ads and can sustain them, that suggests the paying slice is large enough (inference, not verified).

### Who's competing

| Competitors | Platform | Launched | Scale | How it differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widgetsmith (the original, by David Smith) | iOS | 2020-09 | US store 779k rating | The brand owner, no Android version |
| Color Widgets / iWidgets | Android | 2023-03 | 72M installs, +750k in 7 days | Same iOS-style look, more features, over a hundred times the installs |
| Widgetable | Android / iOS | 2022-12 | 59.1M installs | Focused on social widgets for couples and friends |
| Widgets OS 18 – Color Widgets | Android | 2021-01 | 28.2M installs | Play search for widgetsmith ranks #2 |
| KWGT Kustom Widget Maker | Android | 2015-10 | 16.9M installs | Programmable, hard to pick up; the most-recommended "Android alternative" on Reddit |
| WidgetClub | Android / iOS | 2022-08 | 3.55M installs | Themes, icon packs, plus a community |
| New entries like Theme Widgets and Glass Widgets | Android | 2026-10 | 7 days +65k to +810k | Launched around the same time, and all grew faster than it did |
| Built into the system (Pixel, Samsung) | Android | — | Preinstalled | Has photo and clock widgets, but no free-form design |

Scale is the Google Play install count (11-06) and the App Store rating count (11-06). Feature-wise it has less than Color Widgets and WidgetClub, no icon packs, no community. The only thing it wins on is the name.

### This move, and how it ended last time

In 2020 October, when Widgetsmith was at its peak, an app also named Widgetsmith appeared on Play. According to AppBrain's records, it got 22k installs in 12 days, rated 2.4 stars, and was then taken down. Google Play has a specific impersonation policy, and one complaint from the original developer is enough.

This time the app has been live for over three weeks and has more volume, but the rules haven't changed. It could disappear at any moment, and when it does, its installs, ranking, and paying users all go to zero together.

### If it were you

**C.** The search demand for "iOS hit with no Android version" is real and worth studying. But the way it's capturing that traffic is by using someone else's trademark directly. If you copy it, you're betting on a takedown, and this wave of volume isn't large to begin with and is already fading.

**Who it's for** : indie developers who already have a decent Android tool or beautification app and know ASO. You don't want this name; you want the idea of finding the gap.

**Who it's not for** : anyone planning to ship another "Widgetsmith", or to swap in a different iOS brand name and get away with the same thing. That isn't following a trend, it's queuing up for complaints. It's also not for newcomers who want to head-on compete in general-purpose widget apps: that category has several established players with tens of millions of installs, and a new entry can't buy more than a few hundred thousand installs a week against them.

**How to do it** : list iOS apps that are very popular but whose makers have clearly not shipped an Android version (widgets, journaling, habit tracking, camera filters, and lock-screen customization all qualify). Check which names still get searched on Play, but return tutorial wrappers or old apps. Pick one, build its most-loved features well, publish under your own name, and use compliant descriptions in the title and listing, such as "XX-style" or "Android alternative to XX". At the same time, write a "XX for Android" landing page to catch Google web search traffic.

**How to get users** : the main channel is branded-term plus "android" or "alternative" long-tail search, on both Play and Google web. Also answer questions naturally in Reddit threads titled "XX alternative for android". Under TikTok videos of iPhone home-screen customization, Android users keep asking whether it's possible on their phones, so a screen-recording saying "you can build this home screen on Android too" speaks directly to them.

**When to get in** : there's no seasonality, but the window follows the original developer. The day they ship an official Android version, the search traffic this name attracts flows back to them.

**Signs you read it wrong** : ① the app is still up a month or two from now with daily installs holding steady in the thousands, which would mean the takedown risk is smaller than expected, or the brand search is bigger than it looks, and so those who build legitimate "alternatives" can capture more; ② it gets taken down quickly and the Play search traffic for widgetsmith shifts to established players like Color Widgets, which would mean the traffic ends up with big companies and small developers don't get it; ③ its daily installs fall back to a few hundred, which would mean the October spike was mostly bought, and the brand term alone doesn't bring in many people a day.

---

Data and sources: Google Play store page, developer page, search results (11-06 read); Google Play daily installs and per-country category charts (10-29 to 11-06); third-party daily install estimates (10-27 to 11-06); Widgetsmith's rating on the App Store (11-06) and the widgetsmith.app website; AppBrain's record of the impersonator app from 2020; related posts on Reddit r/androidapps, r/Widgetsmith, and r/samsung; YouTube and TikTok searches (11-06). Developer scale, paid acquisition, and revenue are all inferred.

[Android store page ↗](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.custom.widget.builder)

**Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report**

Competitors

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widgetsmith (original, Cross Forward Consulting) | iOS | 2020-09 | US store 779k ratings, 4.6 stars | Original brand owner, no Android version; this app lives in exactly that gap |
| KWGT Kustom Widget Maker | Android | 2015-10 | 16.9M installs, +97k in 7 days | Programmable, geeky, hard to learn; this app is simpler and copies Widgetsmith's feature list |
| Color Widgets, Theme: iWidgets | Android | 2023-03 | 72M installs, +750k in 7 days | Same-category full-featured theme widgets are 100x bigger; this app has fewer features and only wins on its name |
| Widgetable | Android | 2022-12 | 59.1M installs | Focused on couple/friend social widgets; this app is purely personal customization |
| WidgetClub | Android | 2022-08 | 3.55M installs | Themes + icon packs + community; this app has no icon packs and no community |
| Widgets OS 18 - Color Widgets(ZipoApps) | Android | 2021-01 | 28.2M installs | Ranks behind this app on Play for widgetsmith; this app holds #1 with the exact brand name |
| Theme Widgets (Menly), Glass Widgets, and 2026-10 other new entries | Android | 2026-10 | 7 days +65k to +810k | Similar new entries in the same period are growing faster, relying on generic keywords and paid acquisition rather than riding the brand |
| 2020 Widgetsmith knockoff (widgetsmith.colowidget.weatherwidget) | Android | 2020-10 | 12 days, 22k installs, then removed | A warning from the same playbook |
| System built-in widgets (Pixel / One UI) | Big-company features | — | Preinstalled | Can't freely design fonts, colors, or photo frames |

Where users come from

- **Verified** **Play in-store brand search (ASO impersonation)** : a Play search for widgetsmith ranks it first (2026-11-06 scraped); the app title is Widgetsmith

- **Verified** **Google web brand search** : searching 'Widgetsmith Android app Google Play' on Google leads directly to its store page (utm_term=widgetsmith android app google play)

- **Verified** **Ongoing demand for "is there an Android version of Widgetsmith"** : YouTube tutorials, TikTok discover page (2026-11-02 updated), and alternative threads on r/androidapps and r/Widgetsmith

- Inferred **Paid acquisition (Google App Campaigns, etc.)** : daily installs jumped from about 200 to about 6,200 10-30, with the top charting countries being the Philippines, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Poland rather than the US, which looks like spend allocated by cost; no ad library records

- Inferred **Creators/content/X/media** : x-radar shows 0 posts in the last 30 days; no dedicated videos or coverage found

## Why Widgetsmith (Android, com.custom.widget.builder) could break out

> Conclusion: this is not the official Android version of the iOS hit Widgetsmith. It's a widget app published on Google Play by an individual developer with a Pakistan background (DDapper Apps / Dripper Dapper LLC) that **directly uses the "Widgetsmith" brand name** . Its growth mainly comes from the long-running brand search demand for "Widgetsmith on Android, no official version": searching "widgetsmith" on Play, it ranks first, and a Google web search for "widgetsmith android app google play" also lands directly on its store page. The product itself has no clear differentiation from the leading competitors; nearly all the difference is in the name. This playbook has been tried before, and it ended in removal (the 2020 knockoff was taken down after 12 days).

### 1. Basics

- Store page: [play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.custom.widget.buil…](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.custom.widget.builder). Developer display name "DDapper Apps", legal entity Dripper Dapper LLC, address is the registered-agent address in Sheridan, Wyoming (30 N Gould St), phone +92 (Pakistan), support email is a personal Gmail (marifmughal307@gmail.com). The same developer has only one other app on Play: QR Scanner & Generator (com.devoze.qrscanner). (Play store page / developer page, scraped 2026-11-06)

- Listed 2026-10-14, version 1.0.0, updated 2026-10-17; the update note reads "Easier access for reviewers and testers". (googleplay library app/app_snap)

- Features: photo, clock, calendar, countdown, world clock, and text widgets, 14 fonts, themes, matching wallpapers, "Theme from photo", and Pro adds AI wallpapers. Monetization: annual subscription or one-time purchase, in-app purchases ranging $19.99–$29.99, no ads. (Store description; googleplay library iap_range, ad_supported=False)

- The real Widgetsmith: made by Cross Forward Consulting (David Smith) on iOS, launched 2020-09-16, 779k ratings in the US store, 4.61 stars; the official site widgetsmith.app offers App Store downloads only, **no Android version** . (iTunes lookup id 1523682319; widgetsmith.app)

### 2. Growth data

- Cumulative installs: 10-29 was 7,018 → 10-31 is 19,441 → 11-03 is 32,754 → 11-06 is 41,420; 34,402 new in the last 7 days. (googleplay library app_day / data card)

- AppstoreSpy estimated daily installs: 10-27/28 about 219/day, jumped from 10-30 to about 6,200/day, then 4,400 → 2,500 → 3,700/day, **the peak has passed and it's declining** . (googleplay library app_day_ext, AppstoreSpy estimate)

- Charts: appears only on free Productivity charts in small and mid-sized storefronts, ranks 100–200: best is #68 in the Philippines (11-03), 101–142 in France, 139–179 in the UK, plus Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Canada, and Malaysia; **has never entered the US chart** . (googleplay library chart_rank 10-30~11-06)

- Rating count is empty, with no review samples. 40k installs with zero public ratings means either the rating isn't being displayed by the store yet, or user retention and engagement are very low. (googleplay library app_snap.ratings empty)

- Seen in the category, the volume is very small: in the same week, Theme Widgets (Menly, launched 10-23) 7 days +810k, iWidgets +750k, and Glass Widgets (launched 10-21) +65k. (googleplay library app_profile)

### 3. Competitors

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widgetsmith (original, Cross Forward Consulting) | iOS | 2020-09 | US store 779k rating | Original brand owner; no Android version, so this app lives in that gap |
| KWGT Kustom Widget Maker | Android | 2015-10 | 16.9M installs, +97k in 7 days | Geeky, programmable, hard to learn; the most-recommended option in Reddit's "Android alternatives to Widgetsmith" threads |
| Color Widgets / iWidgets(AI Photo Team) | Android | 2023-03 | 72M installs, +750k in 7 days | Same type, full-featured themes and widgets with an iOS-style look; about a hundred times its scale |
| Widgetable(Happeny) | Android/iOS | 2022-12 | 59.1M installs | Focused on couple/friend social widgets |
| WidgetClub(Liume) | Android/iOS | 2022-08 | 3.55M installs | Themes + icons + widgets, an aesthetics community |
| Widgets OS 18 – Color Widgets(ZipoApps) | Android | 2021-01 | 28.2M installs | Ranks second on Play for "widgetsmith", behind this app |
| Theme Widgets (Menly), Glass Widgets, and 2026 other new entries | Android | 2026-10 | 126k~1.26M | Similar new entries launched in the same period are all growing faster than it is |
| 2020 Widgetsmith knockoff (widgetsmith.colowidget.weatherwidget) | Android | 2020-10 | Live for 12 days, 22k installs, 2.4 stars, now delisted | Same name-borrowing, last time's ending (AppBrain records) |
| Various "Widgetsmith Guide/tutorial" apps (e.g. apkpure com.Widgetsmith.widget, Softonic's Widgetsmith Android App Guide) | Android/APK sites | Years | Small | Just tutorial shells, not actual widget tools that work |
| Built into the system | Big-company features | — | — | Pixel / Samsung One UI ship with photo and clock widgets, but you can't design them freely like Widgetsmith |

### 4. Where users come from

1. **Brand-name search capture (confirmed)** : Searching "widgetsmith" on Play ranks it first, with Color Widgets, KWGT and others below (Play search page 2026-11-06 scrape). When Jina searches Google for "Widgetsmith Android app Google Play", the results include links carrying utm_term=widgetsmith+android+app+google+play that point to this store page. Google web search is also routing "widgetsmith android" traffic to it.

2. **Long-standing demand (confirmed)** : YouTube videos like "Is Widgetsmith available on Android?" and "How to use Widgetsmith on Android", TikTok topic pages (updated to 2026-11-02), and r/androidapps and r/Widgetsmith threads asking "Widgetsmith alternative for android?" all exist, showing people have long been looking for an Android version. Users switching from iPhone to Android, or who saw TikTok beautification tutorials, search for the name.

3. **Paid acquisition (unverified, signs present)** : Daily installs jumped at 10-30 from about 200 to about 6,000. The charting countries (Philippines, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Poland) rather than the US, where brand awareness is strongest, look like Google App Campaigns-style automatic cost-based allocation. But the ad library only tracks products on its list and found no ad records, so this can't be confirmed.

4. **Content / creators** : On X (x-radar, last 30 days) there were 0 posts about "widgetsmith android". TikHub found no dedicated videos for this app. No owned content marketing found.

5. Media / celebrities / Product Hunt: nothing found.

### 5. Why it took off

- The name is the channel: "Widgetsmith" is a major brand left over from the iOS customization boom (2020), and the original author never shipped an Android version. The name isn't registered on Play as an app name, so it's simply taken, and brand traffic from in-store and Google search lands on it.

- The product looks credible: its description and features (photo, clock, countdown, matching wallpapers, one-tap themes) largely mirror Widgetsmith's feature list, meeting searchers' expectation of iPhone-style customization so they don't uninstall right away.

- High-ticket one-time purchase / annual subscription ($19.99–$29.99). Only a small share of brand-search users need to pay to break even. If it is really running paid acquisition, this is how the money comes back.

- But the evidence shows it's a **one-off burst** : daily installs have dropped by more than half from the peak, 40k installs with no public rating, and it never made the US chart.

### 6. Differentiation

Compared with similar apps like KWGT, Color Widgets and WidgetClub, it has no unique features (it's even thinner: no social, no icon packs, limited widget types). Its only real edge is **using a widely searched, well-known iOS brand name that was missing on Android** . That edge is why it took off. It runs on distribution tactics (brand-keyword ASO capture, possibly layered with paid acquisition), not on the product itself. Risk is high: trademark/impersonation (Google Play's Impersonation policy). One complaint from the original author or Google could get it delisted, and there's precedent from 2020.

### 7. How many people saw it and whether anyone copied it

- Few people know about it yet: no public revenue, no media or X discussion. It only shows up in our database and Play search.

- Copycats: borrowing the "Widgetsmith" name has been done before (2020 knockoffs, several "Widgetsmith Guide" tutorial apps), but right now the only real-function app on Play called "Widgetsmith" is this one, and no new imitators have appeared yet.

### 8. Takeaways

- The brand-search gap for "hit on iOS, no Android version" is a real traffic pool. It can be tapped legitimately with "XX for Android / XX alternative" framing (e.g. "alternative" in titles and descriptions, landing-page SEO), rather than by impersonating the brand.

- Align the feature list with what target users expect from the app they know, to reduce disappointment after install.

- High-priced one-time purchase plus annual subscription suits utility tools with one-off traffic and weak retention.

### 9. Uncertain

- Whether it runs Google App Campaigns / Meta ads: unverified.

- Whether zero ratings means the display is hidden or nobody has rated it: unverified. Paid conversion and revenue are completely unknown.

- Whether original author David Smith / Google will act (and when the delisting would happen): unknown.

- Whether 10-14's listing date was reset: in the database released=2026-10-14, and the AppstoreSpy curve starts from 10-27, roughly consistent.

### Sources

- Google Play store page / developer page / search page (r.jina.ai scrape, 2026-11-06)

- googleplay library: app, app_snap, app_day, app_day_ext (AppstoreSpy estimates), chart_rank, app_profile (2026-10-29~11-06)

- iTunes lookup id 1523682319; widgetsmith.app official site and FAQ

- AppBrain: [www.appbrain.com/app/widgetsmith/widgetsmith.colowidget.weat…](https://www.appbrain.com/app/widgetsmith/widgetsmith.colowidget.weatherwidget) (search summary: 2020-10 on Play for 12 days, 22k installs, 2.4 stars, then delisted)

- Reddit r/androidapps 1o3pvsu, r/Widgetsmith 1o438mg "Widgetsmith alternative for android?" (search summary); YouTube dahx0-Sc6Xs, M4S1SxpV2NY; TikTok discover "how-to-use-widgetsmith-on-android"

- x-radar search for "widgetsmith android", 0 posts in the last 30 days

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.