diff --git a/apps/barclock/ChangeLog b/apps/barclock/ChangeLog
index 88f4eaf00..96ee0141e 100644
--- a/apps/barclock/ChangeLog
+++ b/apps/barclock/ChangeLog
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@
 0.14: Use ClockFace_menu.addItems
 0.15: Add Power saving option
 0.16: Support Fast Loading
+0.17: Hide widgets instead of not loading them at all
diff --git a/apps/barclock/metadata.json b/apps/barclock/metadata.json
index 785c228b0..010852083 100644
--- a/apps/barclock/metadata.json
+++ b/apps/barclock/metadata.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "barclock",
   "name": "Bar Clock",
-  "version": "0.16",
+  "version": "0.17",
   "description": "A simple digital clock showing seconds as a bar",
   "icon": "clock-bar.png",
   "screenshots": [{"url":"screenshot.png"},{"url":"screenshot_pm.png"}],
diff --git a/apps/barclock/settings.js b/apps/barclock/settings.js
index 7b88b7021..04f0a38ba 100644
--- a/apps/barclock/settings.js
+++ b/apps/barclock/settings.js
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 (function(back) {
   let s = require("Storage").readJSON("barclock.settings.json", true) || {};
+  // migrate "don't load widgets" to "hide widgets"
+  if (!("hideWidgets" in s) && ("loadWidgets" in s) && !s.loadWidgets) {
+    s.hideWidgets = 1;
+  }
+  delete s.loadWidgets;
 
   function save(key, value) {
     s[key] = value;
@@ -19,7 +24,7 @@
   };
   let items = {
     showDate: s.showDate,
-    loadWidgets: s.loadWidgets,
+    hideWidgets: s.hideWidgets,
   };
   // Power saving for Bangle.js 1 doesn't make sense (no updates while screen is off anyway)
   if (process.env.HWVERSION>1) {