How to Keep Server Health on Your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island and Widgets

TL;DR

While a server's dashboard is open, a Live Activity shows its CPU and memory in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen. Widgets show the latest sample from your servers and can refresh in the background about every 15 to 30 minutes at iOS's discretion.

The problem

You’re watching a deploy or a suspicious load spike, but you have to keep switching back to the app to check it, and the phone locks. Monitoring that you have to open an app to see is really just checking. What you want is a glance, on the Lock Screen or in the Dynamic Island, that tells you whether the server is fine.

Live Activity and Dynamic Island

When you open a server’s dashboard and the first sample arrives, ServerPanel starts a Live Activity automatically. It shows the server name with live CPU and memory percentages in the Dynamic Island (compact, minimal and expanded) and on the Lock Screen. It updates with each new sample and ends when you leave the dashboard.

It needs Live Activities to be allowed for the app in iOS settings, and it only lasts while the dashboard is open and sampling.

Widgets

Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets show the latest sample the app stored: CPU, memory and the worst disk usage, with colours that change at 70% and 90%. They come in small and medium sizes for the Home Screen, and circular and rectangular for the Lock Screen.

A widget can only show data the app has collected. Two things feed it:

  • Sampling while the dashboard is open.
  • Background Widget Refresh (Settings → Widgets), which samples your servers while the app is closed. iOS decides the exact timing, typically every 15 to 30 minutes, based on your use and battery.

Set it up

  1. Open Settings and turn on Background Widget Refresh.
  2. Add a ServerPanel widget to your Home or Lock Screen.
  3. Open the dashboard of a server at least once so there’s data.

Limits

  • Widgets aren’t live. They show the last sample, which can be many minutes old.
  • Background refresh is up to iOS, and isn’t guaranteed at a set time.
  • For alerts when something crosses a limit, use threshold alerts rather than checking a widget.

FAQ

Does the Live Activity cost anything? No. It starts automatically when a dashboard session has data and is free.

How fresh are the widgets? They reflect the last sample taken. With Background Widget Refresh on, iOS refreshes them periodically, typically every 15 to 30 minutes.

What do the widget colours mean? Below 70% is green, below 90% orange and 90% or above red.

When does the Live Activity end? When you leave that server’s dashboard.

The app ServerPanel →