diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
index 75da167d..5e61e487 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
     <uses-permission android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT" />
+    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
 
     <application
         android:name=".Application"
@@ -205,12 +206,19 @@
             android:name="com.google.android.backup.api_key"
             android:value="AEdPqrEAAAAIwG6zsGB4qo6ZhjfwIJpm9WI7AqmWaoRXm6ZJnA" />
 
+        <receiver android:name=".util.DeviceBootReceiver">
+            <intent-filter>
+                <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"></action>
+            </intent-filter>
+        </receiver>
+
         <receiver android:name=".tasker.TaskerReceiver" >
             <intent-filter>
                 <action android:name="com.twofortyfouram.locale.intent.action.QUERY_CONDITION" />
                 <action android:name="com.twofortyfouram.locale.intent.action.FIRE_SETTING" />
             </intent-filter>
         </receiver>
+
         <receiver android:name=".widget.SmallWidgetProvider" >
             <intent-filter>
                 <action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/CommonActivity.java b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/CommonActivity.java
index 5811a7f9..79fee1fb 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/CommonActivity.java
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/CommonActivity.java
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package org.fox.ttrss;
 
 
 import android.annotation.SuppressLint;
+import android.app.Activity;
+import android.app.AlarmManager;
 import android.app.AlertDialog;
 import android.app.Dialog;
 import android.app.PendingIntent;
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ import com.nostra13.universalimageloader.core.ImageLoader;
 import com.nostra13.universalimageloader.core.ImageLoaderConfiguration;
 
 import org.fox.ttrss.util.DatabaseHelper;
+import org.fox.ttrss.widget.SmallWidgetProvider;
 import org.jsoup.Jsoup;
 import org.jsoup.nodes.Document;
 import org.jsoup.select.Elements;
@@ -159,6 +162,8 @@ public class CommonActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements SharedPreferenc
 
 		m_prefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
 
+		setupWidgetUpdates(this);
+
         if (savedInstanceState != null) {
 			m_theme = savedInstanceState.getString("theme");
 		} else {
@@ -237,7 +242,7 @@ public class CommonActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements SharedPreferenc
 	public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
 		Log.d(TAG, "onSharedPreferenceChanged:" + key);
 
-		String[] filter = new String[] { "theme", "enable_cats", "headline_mode" };
+		String[] filter = new String[] { "theme", "enable_cats", "headline_mode", "widget_update_interval" };
 
 		m_needRestart = Arrays.asList(filter).indexOf(key) != -1;
 	}
@@ -414,6 +419,29 @@ public class CommonActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements SharedPreferenc
 		}
 	}
 
+	public static void setupWidgetUpdates(Context context) {
+		SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
+
+		int updateInterval = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString("widget_update_interval", "15")) * 60 * 1000;
+
+		Log.d("setupWidgetUpdates", "setupWidgetUpdate: interval= " + updateInterval);
+
+		AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
+
+		Intent intentUpdate = new Intent(SmallWidgetProvider.ACTION_REQUEST_UPDATE);
+
+		PendingIntent pendingIntentAlarm = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context,
+				0, intentUpdate, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
+
+		alarmManager.cancel(pendingIntentAlarm);
+
+		alarmManager.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC,
+				System.currentTimeMillis() + updateInterval,
+				updateInterval,
+				pendingIntentAlarm);
+
+	}
+
 	public void displayImageCaption(String url, String htmlContent) {
 		// Android doesn't give us an easy way to access title tags;
 		// we'll use Jsoup on the body text to grab the title text
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/util/DeviceBootReceiver.java b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/util/DeviceBootReceiver.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1622e72d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/util/DeviceBootReceiver.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package org.fox.ttrss.util;
+
+import android.content.BroadcastReceiver;
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.content.Intent;
+
+import org.fox.ttrss.CommonActivity;
+
+public class DeviceBootReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
+    @Override
+    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
+        if (intent.getAction().equals("android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED")) {
+            CommonActivity.setupWidgetUpdates(context);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/widget/SmallWidgetProvider.java b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/widget/SmallWidgetProvider.java
index 6c2261a8..a2c23b59 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/widget/SmallWidgetProvider.java
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/java/org/fox/ttrss/widget/SmallWidgetProvider.java
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ import android.appwidget.AppWidgetProvider;
 import android.content.ComponentName;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.Intent;
+import android.content.SharedPreferences;
+import android.graphics.Color;
+import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.util.Log;
+import android.view.View;
 import android.widget.RemoteViews;
 
 import org.fox.ttrss.OnlineActivity;
@@ -17,6 +21,7 @@ public class SmallWidgetProvider extends AppWidgetProvider {
 
 	public static final String ACTION_REQUEST_UPDATE = "org.fox.ttrss.WIDGET_FORCE_UPDATE";
     public static final String ACTION_UPDATE_RESULT = "org.fox.ttrss.WIDGET_UPDATE_RESULT";
+    public static final String ACTION_SETTINGS_CHANGED = "org.fox.ttrss.WIDGET_SETTINGS_CHANGED";
 
     @Override
 	public void onUpdate(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int[] appWidgetIds) {
@@ -28,11 +33,20 @@ public class SmallWidgetProvider extends AppWidgetProvider {
         RemoteViews views = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(), R.layout.widget_small);
         views.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.widget_main, pendingIntent);
 
+        SharedPreferences prefs  = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
+        boolean darkMode = prefs.getBoolean("widget_dark_mode", false);
+
+        if (darkMode) {
+            views.setViewVisibility(R.id.widget_dark, View.VISIBLE);
+        } else {
+            views.setViewVisibility(R.id.widget_dark, View.INVISIBLE);
+        }
+
         appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetIds, views);
 
         Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context.getApplicationContext(), WidgetUpdateService.class);
         context.startService(serviceIntent);
-	}
+    }
 
 
 	@Override
@@ -55,6 +69,11 @@ public class SmallWidgetProvider extends AppWidgetProvider {
             Log.d(TAG, "onReceive: got update result from service: " + unread + " " + resultCode);
 
             updateWidgetsText(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetIds, unread, resultCode);
+        } else if (ACTION_SETTINGS_CHANGED.equals(intent.getAction())) {
+            Log.d(TAG, "onReceive: got settings changed");
+
+            // TODO
+
         } else {
             super.onReceive(context, intent);
         }
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/layout/widget_small.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/layout/widget_small.xml
index 99124a3c..e6ee8a88 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/layout/widget_small.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/layout/widget_small.xml
@@ -4,8 +4,20 @@
     android:layout_height="fill_parent"
     android:padding="@dimen/widget_margin" >
 
+    <FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
+        android:id="@+id/widget_light"
+        android:background="@color/cardview_light_background"
+        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
+        android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
+
+    <FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
+        android:id="@+id/widget_dark"
+        android:visibility="invisible"
+        android:background="@color/cardview_dark_background"
+        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
+        android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
+
     <LinearLayout
-        android:background="@android:color/white"
         android:layout_width="fill_parent"
         android:layout_height="fill_parent"
         android:orientation="vertical" >
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/arrays.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/arrays.xml
index aa14bd62..92cbefa9 100644
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/arrays.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/arrays.xml
@@ -30,5 +30,11 @@
         <item>1000</item>
         <item>1500</item>
         <item>2000</item>
-    </string-array>    
+    </string-array>
+    <string-array name="pref_widget_update_intervals" translatable="false">
+        <item>15</item>
+        <item>30</item>
+        <item>45</item>
+        <item>60</item>
+    </string-array>
 </resources>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index 3f1d44bb..36980218 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -247,4 +247,6 @@
     <string name="headline_undo_row_prompt">Marked as read</string>
     <string name="pref_headlines_swipe_to_dismiss">Swipe to dismiss</string>
     <string name="pref_headlines_swipe_to_dismiss_long">Disables headlines context menu</string>
+    <string name="pref_widget_update_interval">Update interval (in minutes)</string>
+    <string name="pref_widget_dark_background">Use dark background</string>
 </resources>
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
index df3be4e9..d09d9d8e 100755
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml
@@ -189,6 +189,18 @@
             android:title="@string/offline_image_cache_enabled" />
     </PreferenceCategory>
     <PreferenceCategory android:title="@string/prefs_widget" >
+        <ListPreference
+            android:defaultValue="15"
+            android:entries="@array/pref_widget_update_intervals"
+            android:entryValues="@array/pref_widget_update_intervals"
+            android:key="widget_update_interval"
+            android:title="@string/pref_widget_update_interval" />
+
+        <org.fox.ttrss.util.LessBrokenSwitchPreference
+            android:defaultValue="false"
+            android:key="widget_dark_mode"
+            android:title="@string/pref_widget_dark_background" />
+
         <org.fox.ttrss.util.LessBrokenSwitchPreference
             android:defaultValue="true"
             android:key="widget_show_fresh"
diff --git a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/widget_small.xml b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/widget_small.xml
index df80ac46..99d5e538 100644
--- a/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/widget_small.xml
+++ b/org.fox.ttrss/src/main/res/xml/widget_small.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 <appwidget-provider xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
     android:minWidth="40dp"
     android:minHeight="40dp"
-    android:updatePeriodMillis="86400000"
     android:initialLayout="@layout/widget_small"
     android:resizeMode="none"
     android:widgetCategory="home_screen">