Daily Captain vs Quotes Widget
Checked 26 Sep 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if something is out of date: hello@dailycaptain.app.
Quotes Widget is built to put a quote on your screen. Daily Captain puts the words of people you follow on your screen, and a goal sheet behind them.
Quotes Widget, from developer Ashwin Dinesh, already does one thing well and does it for free: your own words, typed by hand or imported from a JSON file, shown one at a time on a widget you tap to change, with no ads and no in-app purchase anywhere. Daily Captain does not compete with that; it adds the words of people you follow first, before a curated list of 365 lines, moderated by hand, on top of a full goal sheet: a morning list, a midday check, an honest count at night, and one buddy who sees your week. 7 free days, then $9.99 a month, no free tier.
If a free widget for your own words is the whole job, Quotes Widget already does it well, at no cost. If you want the words of people you follow on your screen too, turning over on their own, and a goal sheet behind them, this is that.
| Feature | Quotes Widget | Daily Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | A free Android home screen widget built around your own custom quotes, with JSON import and export to back them up. | Deciding what today is for, and being honest about it at night. |
| Where the quotes come from | Your own quotes once you switch the widget to custom mode, or a small built-in set of hand-picked motivational quotes otherwise. No numeric count is given. | Friends you follow first, then a curated list of 365 quotes. |
| Follow people | None. No follow, friends or community feature is named. | Follow anyone, one way. Free with any account. |
| Your own quotes | Yes, fully: "You can add, edit and manage your own quotes," including bulk JSON import and export, at no cost. | Submit up to 3 a day. The founder reads and approves each one by hand before it reaches anyone who follows you. |
| Widget on iOS | Not printed in the listing. | iOS 17 and later: small, medium, and a lock screen rectangular widget. |
| Widget on Android | A home screen widget added by long-pressing the home screen and dragging it on; tap the widget to show a new quote, and this can be turned off. Sizes are not printed in the listing. | Android home screen only, 2x2 and 4x2 sizes. |
| Lock screen | Not printed in the listing. | iPhone: yes, the lock screen rectangular widget. Android: no lock screen widget, home screen only. |
| How often it changes | Tap the widget to show a new quote; this can be turned off. No automatic refresh interval is printed in the listing. | Once a day, at local midnight. The widget holds a 14 day schedule so it keeps turning over with the app closed. |
| Customisation | Not printed in the listing beyond switching to custom quotes; no themes, fonts or backgrounds are named. | Five themes. No fonts or backgrounds to choose. |
| Ads | None. The listing states plainly: "This widget is completely ads-free and does not spam you." | None. |
| Price | Free. No "Contains ads" or "In-app purchases" badge appears on the listing at all; the developer describes updates as "completely free of cost." | 7 days free, then $9.99 a month. One plan, everything included. |
| Free tier or trial | The whole app is free, with no purchase, subscription or trial of any kind named in the listing. | No free tier. 7 days free, then one plan; the widget needs an active plan to keep updating. |
| What else you get | Rated 4.2 out of 5 from roughly 3.1 to 3.2 thousand Google Play reviews (the page shows two slightly different counts), and over 100,000 downloads. Last updated 17 Mar 2024. | The daily goal sheet, the week and year views, three reminders a day and one buddy who sees your week. |
| Support | Not printed in the listing. | A person answers at hello@dailycaptain.app: email support from the founder. |
Your own words, or the words of people you follow
Quotes Widget lets you switch entirely to your own quotes, add and edit them by hand, and import or export the whole set as a JSON file, for free. A Daily Captain quote comes from the people you follow first, round robin, before anything from a curated list of 365 lines, attributed by first name and linked to that person’s page, and you can submit up to 3 of your own a day, approved by the founder by hand.
Free and tap to change, or included and automatic
Quotes Widget costs nothing and never will, by the developer’s own description; the listing names tap-to-change as the way to get a new quote and prints no automatic refresh interval. Daily Captain’s widget turns over on its own, once a day, at local midnight, and holds a 14 day schedule so it keeps going even with the app closed, as part of $9.99 a month after 7 free days.
One quote, or a full day
Quotes Widget’s whole job is the widget: a bank of quotes, yours or its own, shown one at a time. Daily Captain puts the quote on top of the daily goal sheet, the midday check, the honest evening count, three reminders a day and one buddy who sees your week, none of which Quotes Widget offers or claims to.
What people who leave Quotes Widget say, and what we did about it
Google Play shows only 3 reviews for Quotes Widget (2 Oct 2025, 11 Mar 2026, 27 Apr 2020), all read on 26 Sep 2026. Both of the critical ones open by praising exactly what the app is built for before noting a problem; the app has not been updated since 17 Mar 2024.
- The app already lets you put your own words on a widget for free, but it has had no updates since March 2024 and is effectively unmaintained.
- What we did: Daily Captain is not a static widget shown once: it is a three-times-a-day practice built around your own goals.
- The automatic refresh timer is unreliable; more than one reviewer says the widget does not update on the schedule they set.
- What we did: Once a day, at local midnight. The widget holds a 14 day schedule so it keeps turning over with the app closed.
- A mandatory author field gets in the way when the line is really a personal reminder, not an attributed quote.
- What we did: Daily Captain’s goals need no author, category or formatting: just what today is for, in your own words.
Sources: Quotes Widget on Google Play
Pricing
Quotes Widget
Quotes Widget shows no "Contains ads" or "In-app purchases" badge on Google Play; the developer states in the description that all future updates "will be completely free of cost." There is no price to read, no subscription and no trial. Read 26 Sep 2026.
Daily Captain
Every account starts with 7 free days. After that it is $9.99 a month, one flat price with nothing behind a second wall: the buddy, the yearly goals, the reminders and the apps are all in it. Plus tax where it applies, shown before you pay. Cancel any time and your writing stays readable.
There is no free plan. If you want the method for free, the paper version, the Daily Goal Sheet PDF, is at heegstra.io/goal-sheet.
Sources: Quotes Widget on Google Play, Daily Captain pricing, on the home page
When to choose Quotes Widget
- If you want a free widget for your own lines with nothing to pay, this is the one.
- You already have your own quotes saved somewhere and want to import them in bulk as a JSON file.
- You do not need a follow feed, categories or themes, just your own words on a widget you tap to change.
- You are fine with a plain widget: the listing names no sizes, no lock screen widget and no StandBy.
When to choose Daily Captain
- You want the words of people you follow on your screen too, not only your own.
- You want the quote to sit on top of a goal sheet: a morning list, a midday check, an honest count at night.
- You want the widget to turn over on its own, once a day, without opening the app to tap it.
- You want a person to read what you submit before it reaches the people who follow you.
Trying it
Nothing to import and nothing to set up. Sign in, write what today is for, and tonight write tomorrow’s first goal. If it is not for you after 7 days, nothing has happened to your card and you have lost about a minute a day.
Questions
Is Daily Captain cheaper than Quotes Widget?
No. Quotes Widget is free, with no ads and no in-app purchases at all. Daily Captain is one plan, $9.99 a month after 7 free days; theirs buys a widget for your own words, and ours adds the words of people you follow, a goal sheet, reminders and a buddy on top.
How does following someone put their quote on my screen?
Follow them from their page. Once one of their quotes is approved, it joins your rotation: it can be your daily quote and it can show in your widget, attributed to them by first name and linked back to their page.
Can I submit my own quotes?
Yes, up to 3 a day. The founder reads and approves each one by hand; once approved, it can reach everyone who follows you and joins the shared list.
Which phones does the widget work on?
iOS 17 and later, in small, medium and lock screen rectangular sizes. On Android, a home screen widget in 2x2 and 4x2 sizes, no lock screen widget. There is no web or desktop widget.
Do I need to pay to use the widget?
Yes. The widget needs an active plan to keep updating; there is no free tier. If a plan lapses, the widget stops turning over, but your sheet and your writing stay yours.
Is there a free version of Daily Captain?
No. There are 7 free days, then one flat price of $9.99 a month. The free paper version of the same method, the Daily Goal Sheet PDF, is at heegstra.io/goal-sheet.
Why does someone else see my week?
Because being seen works, the way people work harder in a library than alone at home. One person who knows what you set out to do is enough. They see exactly what you wrote, and only when you send it.
Ready to try Daily Captain instead of Quotes Widget
Start your first sheet7 days free, then $9.99 a month.