- You’ve probably heard of widgets. But do you really know what they are and how they are used?
Practically from the beginning of the Google mobile platform, the customization capacity has been one of the strengths of Android concerning other operating systems. Google itself wanted to make this advantage clear in the first versions of Android through functions such as the possibility of modifying aspects of the home screen, including widgets.
At this point, unless you’re just getting started with Android, widgets should be nothing new to you. However, sometimes we forget the great potential that these small accessories offer for our home screen.
What is a widget?
According to Google’s explanation, widgets are an essential element of Android home screen customization. They are used to view information from the screen without accessing the application associated with each widget.
In some cases, widgets not only display information, but you can also interact with them so that you can perform various actions – for example, enable or disable options or device settings – from the home screen.
Many widgets are also customizable, which helps make it easy to give a unique look to the home screen of your smartphone or tablet. And in case customization options are not included, the vast majority of Android launchers offer the possibility of changing their size easily.
How to add a widget to your mobile home screen
The process to add a widget to the home screen is extremely simple and broadly the same as we would follow when adding an app shortcut. To do this, simply choose the place where you want to add and follow these steps:
- Make a long press on the space on the home screen to add the widget.
- In the drop-down menu, click on “Widget.”
- Drag the widget you want to add to the space where it will be placed.
7 widgets that we recommend to use on your mobile
- Month Calendar
- Home Agenda
- Hurry
- Another Widget
- Overdrop
- KWGT
- HD Widgets In Google Play, there are thousands of applications that include widgets with which you can get even more out of their functions, and just take a look at the widget menu on your home screen to see it. However, we can also find some apps designed exclusively to display information on the screen through widgets. Here are some of our favorites from both categories:
Month Calendar
At the time, we chose it as one of the best calendar widgets that can be used on Android. Month Calendar Widget is a customizable and easy-to-use app that allows you to add a calendar or agenda to the home screen of your mobile and choose from various custom styles.
Home Agenda
Another fantastic calendar widget and chosen by the Andro4all team as one of the best apps of 2018. Home Agenda is one of the latest apps created by the famous developer F. Franco.
Hurry
Another great app with even better widgets is Hurry. It is possible to keep track of important events and dates since it is in charge of showing us the countdown of days, weeks, or months that separate us from each of the entries. Both the design of the app and that of the widgets are taken care of down to the smallest detail, and since it can be downloaded for free, we cannot do anything other than recommend it.
Another Widget
Along with the Google Pixel 2 of 2017, a new widget style was introduced on the home screen that allowed us to take a quick look at the date, our upcoming events on the calendar, or the weather, among other things. At first, the widget was exclusive to Google’s Pixel mobiles, so developer Tommaso Belrose decided to create Another Widget, an app that allows us to bring this same plug-in to any mobile, with the advantage that it can be customized to our liking.
Overdrop
If you can’t live without knowing the weather tomorrow, Overdrop is the weather app you need on your mobile. Not only is it the most carefully designed weather app in all of Google Play, but it also incorporates a variety of home screen widgets.
KWGT
There is also the possibility of designing our own custom widgets and give them the functionality we want. Few apps are better for this than Kustom Widget Maker or KWGT. The app puts at our disposal all the necessary tools to create widgets of all kinds and even use those made by the user community.
HD Widgets
But if creating widgets is not for you, you can always resort to the classic HD Widgets, an app that has been with us for several years, which by default includes more than 100 widgets that can be added to the home screen, not to mention all skins created by the community.
Google Play | HD Widgets (0.99 euros)
This is just a small collection of useful widgets for your Android mobile. If you’re looking for, even more, we recommend checking out our list of the best Android widgets available.
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
