Same name, free version: how Glass Widgets rode keywords others had already built up, climbing 70k installs in two weeks
What it is A collection of Android home screen widgets: 750 frosted-glass style clocks, weather, calendar and battery widgets. Free to download, earns through ads and in-app purchases.
Why it took off iOS 26's Liquid Glass made Android users want the same look. TikTok tutorials and AppsLab's paid version had already turned "Glass Widgets" into a search term. It catches that search traffic with a free version of the same name, and price-sensitive users in India just tap the free one.
CHow you could follow Stop making glass widgets, that spot is crowded. Copy the playbook instead: watch Play's personalized Top Paid chart, look for products whose names have become generic terms but still lack a decent free version, and use a free-plus-IAP version to reach price-sensitive markets. This only works if you have an existing app to send users from.
- Data (updated daily) · first launch 2026-10-21 · 11-07 installs 72,272
Android · Total installs worldwide Data 2026-10-29 → 2026-11-07 (10 days, 10 observations). Google's detail page only refreshes install counts every other day, so a flat day doesn't mean nobody installed.Android · Ratings count (cumulative) Data 2026-10-29 → 2026-11-07 (10 days, 10 observations)
An old developer from Gujarat, India, who has shipped 21 beautification apps, gave his new release a name identical to a paid hit by someone else: "Glass Widgets". The only difference is price: the original costs $1.99 one-time, while this one is free. Two weeks after launch, Google Play installs climbed from 7k to 72k, mostly in India. Below: whose tailwind it's riding, where the money comes from, and whether you can take this path yourself.
Oct 21, the same name went live
In Oct 2026 21, the developer account JustNewDesigns launched an app called Glass Widgets on Google Play. The store page lists an address in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, with Mustakim Maknojiya as the contact. This isn't a new account: its 21 apps have 8.85M installs combined, and the biggest, Depth Wallpapers, has 4.04M.
Pre-registration opened before launch. A post on the developer's X account read: "Glass Widgets – Coming Soon with 750+ Widgets, Pre-book Now, its FREE". That final word, "FREE", is the key.
Because Play already had a Glass Widgets. The AppsLab Co. version launched in August 2025, costs $1.99 one-time, sold about 11-06k copies by 200, and ranked #2 to #3 on the personalized Top Paid chart across 30 countries. Discussions about "glass widgets" in Android customization circles on Reddit, such as the r/oneui thread "seeing everyone use it, so I tried it" (2025-12, about 90 rupees), are about it. AppsLab spent a year building this term.
The JND version uses the same name, lists 750+ widgets (versus the original's 350+), states in the second paragraph of the store page "no need for KWGT or any other app", and is free. On the day it launched, an Android crack site posted "Glass Widgets v1.0.10 [JustNewDesigns] [Pro] [Patched]", showing that the paywall was worth cracking from day one.
What it is
A collection of Android home screen widgets: clocks, calendars, weather, battery, photos and quick toggles, all in a unified frosted-glass style: semi-transparent, blurred background, rounded corners, with the wallpaper showing through. Pick one, adjust color and transparency, and drag it onto your home screen.
Making it takes no special technical barrier. AppsLab made frosted-glass widgets, KWGT theme pack authors made them, and JND itself released a paid Glass Widgets Pro in October 2025. What's new this time is only two things: the name and the price.
Why now
The demand came from Apple. In September 2025 iOS 26 introduced Liquid Glass, and glass-style design became the look of phones that year. Android users, especially Samsung One UI users, wanted the same thing.
Tutorials of this kind on TikTok have run for over a year: Brazilian creator heyisiinha's August 31 video "let's turn my phone into a liquid glass theme together" got 1.29M views; another creator, imveurence, posted in October 17 "POV: you turned your whole Samsung into Liquid Glass without a launcher" with 276k views; kyden_x's October 23 video "how to get Liquid Glass on Android" got 83k views (TikTok, checked 11-06). Most of these videos don't name a specific app; what they push is the search term "glass widgets".
Viewers who watch these videos then search Play for the term and now see two apps with the same name, one for $1.99 and one free. In India, there's barely a choice to make.
How fast it rose
Public Google Play figures (11-06):
| Date | Total installs | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10-29 | 6,983 | 148 |
| 10-31 | 14,568 | 202 |
| 11-03 | 46,924 | 317 |
| 11-05 | 57,170 | 441 |
| 11-06 | 72,272 | 486 |
Up 65k in a week. On India's personalized free chart it climbed from #129 on 10-29 to #20 on 11-06; at the same time, 11-06 it appeared on the personalized free charts in 12 countries: #69 in South Africa, #102 in Germany, #110 in the US.
Two details stand out. First, on 11-03 it gained 32k installs, the same day JND's own Depth Wallpapers gained 42k and Minimal Widgets gained 18k. It could be cross-promotion within their own apps, or just store figures refreshing on the same day, unverified. Second, the rating distribution: 1 stars 16, 2 stars 0, 3 stars 0, 4 stars 83, 5 stars 385. The middle is entirely missing. The common explanation is that the app asks "do you like it?" first and only sends people who say yes to rate it on the store (inference). The top review, marked helpful by 20 people, is a templated long praise with five star emojis.
Where the money comes from
Free to download, ad-supported, with in-app purchases priced from $0.49 to $10.99. One review with 10-29 thanks customer support for "restoring my subscription", suggesting there is a subscription tier too.
Evidence that it's making money: since 11-04 it has steadily held #35 on India's personalized Top Grossing chart. Absolute revenue is not visible, but making the top 40 Top Grossing in India, in a category selling desktop widgets, means people are paying.
JND validated this model themselves: their Minimal Widgets, launched in April 2026, is also free plus an IAP widget pack. It now has 700k installs and ranks #33 on India's personalized Top Grossing. Glass Widgets is the same template with a different style.
There's also a side angle: JND's own paid Glass Widgets Pro (86,288 installs) grew by only 445 in the same week. Since the free version went up, the paid version's traffic has essentially dried up, and the developer clearly ran the numbers.
Who it's competing with
| Product | Scale (Google Play, 11-06) | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Glass Widgets(AppsLab Co.) | About 200k paid installs, $1.99, top 3 on the personalized Top Paid chart in 30 countries | The original by the name's owner, one-time purchase, 350+ widgets; reviews specifically praise "no ads, one-time purchase, cheap" |
| Glassify: Widgets & Themes | 1.18M installs, +75k in 7 days | Launched 2026-04, free, focused on making every element adjustable, strong in the Arabic market, and much larger than this one |
| Other glass widgets with the same or near-identical names | Tens to hundreds of thousands | AppixoStudio, Approtic, Crystal Glass Widgets, Glassora, Wadiget, and 10-26 also has a Glass Aurora Widgets |
| KWGT | 16.9M installs | Build it yourself or buy theme packs; the JND store page specifically says "no KWGT needed" |
| Theme marketplaces like iControl and Widgetable | tens of millions to 100M+ installs | Every style, driven by paid acquisition |
In short: it's not the first, and not the biggest. This glass widget niche is already crowded with at least seven or eight products of the same or near-identical names, and JND itself is a follower who came in a year later.
What it actually wins on
The difference isn't in the product. Compared with the original AppsLab version, there's no fundamental difference in design or technology; the additions are double the widget count and one word: "free".
It wins on two things a follower can't get:
- A search term others have already built up. It spent nothing educating the market. Apple and TikTok creators did that over the past year, and AppsLab turned the term into a category name.
- An old developer's cold-start toolkit. Pre-registrations, the user base of 21 existing apps, older followers on X and Instagram (9.5K followers), the free promotions and redemption codes it often ran before, plus suspected rating prompting. A new account launching the same app would likely not get any of this in its first week.
If it were you
Verdict: this app itself isn't worth following. Glass widgets are already saturated, and copying it would make you the ninth product with the same name. What's worth learning is the approach: find a term that others have built up through a paid version, then use a free-plus-IAP version to catch price-sensitive markets.
Who it suits: small teams that already have Android beautification or utility apps and existing users to send traffic from; people who can make widgets, icon packs or wallpapers.
Who it doesn't suit: new developer accounts starting from zero (no pre-registered users, no existing traffic, no old ratings; cold start can't compete with a veteran like JND); people hoping to make money from "glass style" itself (this wave has already been split up).
How to do it: watch the Top Paid chart in Play's personalized categories for products whose paid versions rank near the top, whose names have become generic terms, but which still lack a decent free version. Build a free version with ads and widget-pack IAP, offer more widgets than the original, and state "free" and "no KWGT needed" clearly on the first screen of the store page. Use a near-identical name rather than copying it word for word. The risk of complaints or Play enforcement over the same name is one JND is also betting on now (inference).
How to get users: first, store search itself, which is the main traffic source for this path; second, the TikTok creators who make "turn Android into an iPhone" videos, sending them codes and assets so they name your app in tutorials (most current tutorials don't name one, which is the open slot); third, before launch, open pre-registration and gather the first group through X and Reddit customization communities.
When to move: the next opportunity point is Apple's next major visual redesign. Each time iOS changes its look, demand for "iPhone-style Android" comes back. Whoever launches the paid version first gets the term built up, and free versions usually arrive a few months to a year later. JND and Glassify have already taken the free spots for this Liquid Glass wave.
Ways this could be wrong: ① a month later the JND version falls out of India's personalized free Top 100, showing name-based traffic capture only lasts a while; ② Play delists or forces a rename over the name or rating prompts, showing this carries platform risk; ③ AppsLab cuts prices or launches its own free version, taking back the search term's benefits.
Data and sources
- Installs, ratings, charts: public Google Play data, daily records from 10-29 to 11-06; store page text and reviews from the 11-06 India store page.
- Developer info: Google Play developer page, developer's X account @JustNewDesigns.
- AppsLab version data and reviews: Google Play, 11-06.
- TikTok views: search "glass widgets android" on TikTok, 11-06.
- Reddit discussions: public posts in r/oneui, r/GalaxyFold, r/OneUiHomescreens.
- Where it says "inferred" or "unverified", it means inferred and not verified.
Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report
- Competitors
Name Where Launched Scale How it differs from this one Glass Widgets(AppsLab Co.) Android 2025-08-22 GP library 199,357 installs, $1.99 paid, 6,913 rating, 30 store personalized Top Paid #2–3, Brazil/Germany personalized Top Grossing #8 Creator of the same category, one-time paid purchase with 350+ widgets; JND version is free + ads + in-app purchases, 750+ widgets Glassify: Widgets & Themes(Mahmoud Zadah) Android 2026-04-26 GP library 1.18M installs, 7 days +75k Free, focused on deep per-element customization, strong in Arabic markets, larger in scale than JND Glass Widgets Pro / Neon Glass Widgets (JND's own) Android 2025-10-07 GP library 86,288 installs, 7 days +445 JND's own paid version; after the free version launched, new traffic goes to the free version Minimal Widgets (JND's own) Android 2026-04-11 GP library 703k installs, India personalized Top Grossing #33 Same free + in-app purchase widget pack template, with a minimalist style KWGT Kustom Widget Maker Android 2015-10-14 GP library 16.9M installs Requires building your own or buying a separate KWGT pack; JND's pitch is that you don't need KWGT iControl / Theme Widgets / Themepack / Widgetable and other theme giants Android 2022–2026 Tens of millions to hundreds of millions of installs, each +370k to +830k over 7 days Broad themes/icons/widgets bundles, paid-acquisition driven; not focused on frosted glass iOS 26/27 Liquid Glass Big-company features 2025-09 All iPhone users The demand source: system-level glass style; Android users want to copy this look - Where users come from
- Inferred Store search (same name captures "glass widgets"): the name is identical to AppsLab's paid hit Glass Widgets; on Reddit r/oneui, r/GalaxyFold, and r/OneUiHomescreens, Glass Widgets is already used as a generic term; the Play link carries utm_term=justnewdesigns glass widgets
- Verified TikTok/YouTube category tutorial wave: TikTok "glass widgets android" related videos: heyisiinha 1.29M views (2026-08-31), jokiijrt 910k, kahsouzatech 670k, imveurence 276k (2026-10-17); multiple Indian creators on YouTube with "Glass Widgets Like iOS 26" tutorials; most don't name JND
- Verified Pre-registration + owned social: X @justnewdesigns posted "Glass Widgets - Coming Soon with 750+ Widgets Pre-book Now, its FREE"; APKTurbo 10-10 has collected 1.0.01; Instagram 9.5K followers; habitual discounts, promo code giveaways, and r/googleplaydeals limited-time free offers
- Inferred Cross-promotion across its own portfolio: Depth Wallpapers (4.04M) and Minimal Widgets (700k) users overlap; 11-03 three apps jumped the same day (+42k/+18k/+32k), but no in-app promotion screenshots were found
- Inferred Rating prompts: GP library 11-06 rating distribution 1 stars 16, 2 stars 0, 3 stars 0, 4 stars 83, 5 stars 385
- Inferred Paid acquisition: not found in the ad library (it only tracks a fixed list of products)
Why Glass Widgets (JustNewDesigns, com.jndapp.glass.widgets) was able to break out
Data sources: our googleplay library (2026-10-29 to 11-06 daily snapshots, hereafter "GP library"), Jina/Exa web search, TikHub TikTok search, and the developer's X profile (read via r.jina.ai). Query date 2026-11-06.
Bottom line
This is not a new category. It's an older Android personalization shop from Gujarat, India (JustNewDesigns, 21 apps, 8.85M cumulative installs) that repackaged the already-proven "frosted glass/Liquid Glass widget" demand as a "same name + free + more widgets" launch. AppsLab Co.'s paid *Glass Widgets* (launched 2025-08, $1.99, about 200k paid installs, ranking #2–3 on several countries' personalized paid charts) had already turned "Glass Widgets" into a category name in Play search and TikTok tutorials. JND used the exact same name and switched to free + ads + in-app purchases (750+ widgets, versus 350+ for the competitor), capturing the search traffic for that term and taking off in price-sensitive India (India personalized free chart #129 → #20, 10-29 → 11-06).
1. Data: how fast it grew
- Installs (GP library, global cumulative): 10-29 6,983 → 10-31 14,568 → 11-03 46,924 → 11-05 57,170 → 11-06 72,272; +65,289 over the last 7 days.
- Rating count 148 → 486, +22 to +69 per day, in step with installs.
- Charts (GP library): India personalized free chart 10-29 #129 → 11-06 #20; India personalized Top Grossing 11-04 steadily at #35 (showing in-app purchases are converting); US personalized free chart 195 → 110, Germany 196 → 102, South Africa 199 → 69; 11-06 is on the personalized free chart in 12 stores.
- Monetization: offers_iap = True, ad_supported = True, in-app purchases $0.49–$10.99. Not updated since version 1.0.2,10-28.
- Unusual rating distribution (GP library histogram, 11-06): 1 stars 16, 2 stars 0, 3 stars 0, 4 stars 83, 5 stars 385. 2 and 3 stars are zero, a classic in-app "do you like it first, then send happy users to the store" rating gate (inferred, unverified).
- Launch date: the store lists 2026-10-21; but APKTurbo indexed 1.0.01 on 2026-10-10, and the developer's X account posted "Glass Widgets - Coming Soon with 750+ Widgets Pre-book Now, its FREE". They opened pre-registration before the official launch, so a batch of pre-booked users arrived on day one.
2. Competitors
| Product | Platform | Launched | Scale (GP library 11-06) | How it differs from JND Glass Widgets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass Widgets(AppsLab Co.,com.appslab.glass.widgets) | Android | 2025-08-22 | 199,357 installs, paid $1.99 (10-31 back up from $1.00), 6,913 rating; 30 store personalized paid chart #2–3, Brazil/Germany personalized Top Grossing #8, India #14 | Creator of the same category, one-time paid purchase, 350+ widgets; JND version is free + ads + in-app purchases, 750+ widgets |
| Glassify: Widgets & Themes(Mahmoud Zadah) | Android | 2026-04-26 | 1.18M installs, +75k in 7 days | Free, emphasizes deep per-element customization, strong in Arabic markets; larger in scale |
| Glass Widgets Pro / Neon Glass Widgets (JND's own, com.jndapp.neon.glass.pack) | Android | 2025-10-07 | 86,288 installs, only +445 over 7 days | JND's own paid version; after the free version launched, the paid version barely grew, showing new traffic went to the free version |
| Minimal Widgets (JND's own) | Android | 2026-04-11 | 703k installs, India personalized Top Grossing #33 | The same "free + in-app purchase widget pack" template, already proven |
| Liquid Glass Widgets : Blur / DarkGlass Widgets(AppsLab) | Android | 2026-10 / 2025-12 | 2,472 / 25,933 | An extension of AppsLab's own glass series, paid |
| Glass Widgets (AppixoStudio), Glass Widgets: Liquid Glass (Approtic, paid, 2026-09), Crystal Glass Widgets, Glassora, Wadiget (TUTKEM, 96k), Glass Aurora Widgets (10-26) | Android | 2025-06 to 2026-10 | Tens to hundreds of thousands | Many same-name or near-name copycats riding the term, mostly paid or small in volume |
| iControl, Theme Widgets, Themepack, Widgetable and other theme + widget giants | Android | 2022–2026 | tens of millions to 100M+ installs | Broad themes/icons/widgets bundles, paid-acquisition driven; not focused on frosted glass |
| KWGT(Kustom) | Android | 2015 | 16.9M installs | Requires building your own or buying a KWGT pack; JND's description explicitly says "no KWGT needed" |
| iOS 26/27 native Liquid Glass | Big-company features | From ¥2025-09 | All iPhone users | The demand source: Apple made glass style a system aesthetic, and Android users want to "copy the iPhone look" |
Bottom line: it is not the category's first mover, nor the biggest. The category (frosted-glass widgets) was ignited by iOS 26 Liquid Glass, and AppsLab's paid version 2025-08 captured it first; JND is a follower about a year later.
3. Where users came from (growth tactics)
- Same-name capture of Play search "glass widgets" (high confidence, inferred): JND's free version has a name identical to AppsLab's hit paid app. Reddit threads such as r/oneui "Tried glass widgets after seeing everyone and their mother try it" (2025-12, about 90 rupees), r/GalaxyFold "$0.99 Glass widgets", and r/OneUiHomescreens "Glass widget worth it" have made "Glass Widgets" a generic term. Users searching for it see a same-name, free version in the store, and in price-sensitive markets like India they tap the free one. Jina search results include Play links with
utm_term=justnewdesigns glass widgets, showing some people also search the developer name directly. - Category-wide TikTok/YouTube tutorial wave (existence confirmed, but most don't name JND): many TikTok "glass widgets android" videos, such as heyisiinha's "Customize my cell phone with me (liquid glass theme)" with 1.29M views (2026-08-31), jokiijrt 910k (2025-08), kahsouzatech 670k, imveurence's "activated Liquid Glass on your entire Samsung" 276k (2026-10-17), kyden_x 82k (2026-10-23). On YouTube, "Get New Glass Widgets Like iOS 26 In Android" and "Make Your Android Look Premium with Glass Widgets" and similar tutorials from creators in India and South Asia. This content is pushing up the search term "glass widgets", and JND's free version is riding the term's tailwind.
- Pre-registration + owned channels (confirmed): X @justnewdesigns (6,099 posts) announced "Coming Soon with 750+ Widgets, Pre-book Now, its FREE"; Instagram 9.5K followers; the usual playbook is limited-time discounts, promo code giveaways (OneUI Widgets gave away 20 codes), and r/googleplaydeals free promotions (Glass Widgets Pro $1.99 → Free).
- Cross-promotion across its portfolio (inferred, unverified): JND has large free apps such as Depth Wallpapers (4.04M installs, +94k over 7 days) and Minimal Widgets (700k). Their users overlap heavily with this category, and a common practice is "More apps" in-app placements or push cross-promotion. On 11-03, Depth Wallpapers +42k, Minimal Widgets +18k, and Glass Widgets +32k all jumped together, consistent with the same user batch and timing of promotion, though it could also just be the Play data refresh cadence.
- Rating prompts (inferred): a distribution with zero 2 and 3 star ratings, plus a 4.69 score, helps store conversion and ranking.
- Paid acquisition: not found in the ad library (the ad library only tracks a fixed list of products, so a miss doesn't mean no spend); unverified.
4. Why it took off
- The demand already existed: iOS 26/27 Liquid Glass made "glass style" a 2025–26-year phone aesthetic, Android users (especially Samsung One UI) want the same look, and TikTok tutorials have kept reaching millions of views for over a year.
- The name is already proven: AppsLab's paid Glass Widgets hit the top 0 personalized paid chart across 30 stores in 3 places, making "Glass Widgets" a category name; JND's free app with the same name catches the search traffic directly.
- Price flip: switch from one-time purchase ($1.99 for rivals, their own Pro version) to free download + ads + in-app component packs. The entry barrier drops to zero, and it grew fastest in India (#20 Top Free, #35 Top Grossing).
- Template reuse: Minimal Widgets already proved "free + in-app widget packs" can hold a spot on India's personalized Top Grossing chart (#33). Glass Widgets is the same template with a new skin.
- Quantity and "no KWGT needed": 750+ widgets (rivals 350+) is the most visible selling point on the store page.
5. Differentiation
Versus AppsLab: free + double the count, not a different design or tech. Versus KWGT packs: no companion app install needed. Versus general theme apps: focused on one frosted-glass style. What actually made it take off is a free namesake that caught proven demand + an older developer's distribution and ops experience, not any unique feature of the product.
6. Visibility and copycats
- No public revenue figures, and no coverage from media or big X accounts. It only circulates in small Android customization circles (r/AndroidHomescreen, r/oneui, TikTok customization creators, APK cracking sites). The cracking site android-zone had "Glass Widgets v1.0.10 [JustNewDesigns] [Pro] [Patched]" up the same day as 10-21.
- Copycats: the category is already crowded. At least 5–6 same or near-name Glass Widgets apps exist (AppixoStudio, Approtic, Crystal Glass Widgets, Glassora, Glass Aurora Widgets, Wadiget, 10-26 listed). JND itself is a copycat.
7. Takeaways
- Find "a paid hit + a term that has become a category name," then serve price-sensitive markets (India, Southeast Asia, Latin America) with a same- or near-name free + in-app purchase version.
- Pre-registration + cross-promotion from your other apps + rating prompts to cold-start new packs.
- Personalization categories can ride major iOS visual updates (Liquid Glass). Android users who want "iPhone look" demand comes back every year.
8. Uncertain
- Whether it runs paid acquisition or cross-promotes from other apps in the same account: unverified.
- Revenue scale: only known to rank #35 on India's personalized Top Grossing; absolute figures unknown.
- Whether AppsLab will complain or Play will act on the shared name: unknown.
- Share of installs before 10-21 (pre-registration / early versions): unknown.