Level of the Lake

Lake Murray on your Android phone

A small card on your Home Screen that shows today's lake level without opening anything. Here it is with today's numbers:

Preview of the Lake Murray widget showing the current level

Setup takes about three minutes, is free, and needs no account. Have an iPhone instead? Use these steps.

  1. Get the free app called “Web Image Widget”

    A small, free Play Store app that shows a picture from the web on your Home Screen. No sign-up or ads, and it collects no personal information.

    Open the Play Store ↗

    Tap Install, wait for it to finish, then come back here.

    It's made by an independent developer, not by us. It's free and works well for this, but we can't vouch for it or support it. Any app that shows a picture from a web address will work with the address in step 2.

  2. Copy the lake picture's web address

    This button copies the address of a picture that always shows Lake Murray's latest level:

  3. Press and hold on your Home Screen

    Go to your Home Screen (where all your apps are). Press and hold your finger on an empty spot between apps for a second, then tap Widgets in the menu that appears.

  4. Find “Web Image Widget” and add it

    The list is alphabetical. Scroll down to Web Image Widget and tap it. Then press and hold the little preview picture and drag it to an empty spot on your Home Screen. (On some phones, just tapping it works too.)

  5. Paste the address

    A settings page opens automatically. Tap the line that says Image URL. In the box, press and hold your finger until a small menu pops up, tap Paste, then tap OK.

  6. Set it to refresh every 15 minutes

    On the same settings page, tap Refresh Interval and choose 15 minutes. Make sure Scale Image and Preserve Aspect Ratio are switched on, and leave Update over WiFi only switched off.

  7. Tap “Create Widget”

    Tap the Create Widget button. The card appears on your Home Screen and fills in with today's level.

    Too small? Press and hold the card, let go, and drag the dots on its edges. A spot 4 squares wide and 2 tall fits it best.

That's it 🎉

The card updates every 15 minutes, the same pace the lake gauge reports. For the latest reading, tap the card twice quickly and it refreshes.

If something looks off

The card is blank or gray.
Your phone probably had no internet at that moment. Tap the card twice quickly to try again.
The numbers seem old.
The card and the gauge both update every 15 minutes, so the card is at most about half an hour behind the lake. Double-tap to refresh right away.
Tapping it once doesn't open the website.
The card is a picture, so it can't open links. To see the full dashboard, open levelofthelake.com/murray in your browser. (Tip: to add the site to your Home Screen in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen.)
The card disappeared after restarting the phone.
It happens now and then. Repeat steps 3–7; it takes under a minute the second time.

Free for personal use, like the rest of the site. Levels come from public agency gauges and are provisional. Questions? contact@handhewn.works