# TerminalWidget Press Release / Product Datasheet

**For immediate release**
**Product:** TerminalWidget
**Website:** https://terminalwidget.app/
**Recipes:** https://terminalwidget.app/recipes/
**Availability:** Mac App Store (initial release)
**Price:** $19.99 USD, one-time purchase (Mac and iOS)

---

## Headline

**TerminalWidget Puts Live Command Output, Charts, and Status on the Mac Desktop and iOS Home Screen**

## Subhead

A universal Apple widget app for developers, sysadmins, and automation users — update widgets from the terminal, Shortcuts, AppleScript, or a shared URL scheme, with one purchase covering Mac and iOS.

---

## Overview

TerminalWidget turns scripts, APIs, and Shortcuts into live widgets. Instead of burying status in a terminal window or a browser dashboard, it keeps text, progress, charts, tables, and images visible on the macOS desktop and the iPhone/iPad Home Screen.

Named widget targets (for example `widget1`, `deploy`, `backup`) can be updated independently, so a single install can drive many widgets at once. With iCloud enabled, the same targets sync across Mac and iOS devices.

TerminalWidget is available initially on the **Mac App Store** for a **$19.99 one-time purchase**, which includes both the Mac and iOS apps.

---

## Who it's for

- Developers watching builds, deploys, and CI status
- Sysadmins and power users tracking backups, syncs, and machine health
- Automation enthusiasts using Shortcuts, shell scripts, and launchd
- Anyone who wants a glanceable personal dashboard without a web UI

---

## What widgets can show

| Mode | Capabilities |
| --- | --- |
| **Text** | Plain or ANSI-colored text, optional SF Symbol or emoji icons, titles, captions, timestamps, fonts, and colors |
| **Progress** | 0–100 progress with styles including bar, matrix, dots, stack, circle, watch, and gradients |
| **Charts** | Sparklines, bars, graphs, waveforms, area, matrix, radial, range bars, neo character charts, and more from simple number lists or JSON |
| **Tables** | CSV/TSV/JSON tables with grid, zebra, and status coloring options |
| **Images** | Local files or remote URLs, optional filters, edge-to-edge or padded layout |

Widgets support light/dark/system themes, background gradients, content padding, fill/fit text layouts, and optional notify-on-change alerts when content updates.

---

## How widgets get updated

TerminalWidget is designed to fit existing automation, not replace it.

1. **Command line (macOS)**
   Bundled `terminal-widget` CLI for shell scripts, prompt hooks, and scheduled jobs.

2. **Shortcuts (macOS and iOS)**
   Native Shortcuts actions to show text, charts, progress, images, and tables, or perform advanced updates.

3. **URL scheme (cross-platform)**
   `terminalwidget://` URLs for launchers, bookmarks, and cross-app automation on Mac and iOS.

4. **AppleScript (macOS)**
   Dictionary support for scripted Mac workflows.

Example:

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

---

## Mac and iOS together

- **macOS:** Desktop widgets with instant local updates from CLI, Shortcuts, AppleScript, or URL scheme; optional tap actions (open URL, run Shortcut, launch app, run shell command).
- **iOS / iPadOS:** Home Screen widgets with the same content model; update via Shortcuts or URL scheme; sync from Mac over iCloud.
- **One purchase:** $19.99 unlocks Mac and iOS.

---

## Recipe sharing

A public recipe library at [terminalwidget.app/recipes](https://terminalwidget.app/recipes/) collects scripts and Shortcuts that update TerminalWidget — from file-copy and rsync progress to GitHub contribution graphs, network charts, health checks, and more. Users can browse examples and submit their own.

---

## Key facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Product name** | TerminalWidget |
| **Developer** | Brett Terpstra |
| **Category** | Productivity / Developer tools |
| **Platforms** | macOS; iOS and iPadOS (included with purchase) |
| **Initial storefront** | Mac App Store |
| **Price** | $19.99 USD, one-time |
| **Minimum OS** | macOS 14; iOS / iPadOS 17 |
| **Automation** | CLI, Shortcuts, AppleScript, URL scheme |
| **Sync** | iCloud (optional) |
| **Website** | https://terminalwidget.app/ |
| **Recipes** | https://terminalwidget.app/recipes/ |
| **Support** | https://terminalwidget.app/support |

---

## Suggested screenshot captions

Use with the accompanying press pack images:

1. **macOS desktop** — Multiple TerminalWidget instances showing text, progress, and chart styles
2. **Progress and status** — Live job progress and status icons on the desktop
3. **Charts and data** — Sparklines, matrices, and other chart formats from numeric input
4. **iOS Home Screen** — Matching widget content on iPhone / iPad via iCloud sync
5. **Automation** — Updating widgets from Terminal or Shortcuts

---

## Boilerplate

TerminalWidget is a Mac and iOS app by Brett Terpstra that displays live text, progress, charts, tables, and images as system widgets. It is updated from the command line, Shortcuts, AppleScript, or a cross-platform URL scheme, and syncs across Apple devices with iCloud. Learn more at https://terminalwidget.app/.

---

## Press contact

Brett Terpstra
Email: tw@brettterpstra.com
Web: https://terminalwidget.app/
Mastodon / social: via links on https://terminalwidget.app/

Review copies, additional screenshots, and demo walkthroughs available on request.
