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ddsdude

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 13, 2009
73
56
Anyone come across any third party interactive widgets yet? I know about Apple's music, reminders and home widgets but I don't use any of them.
 
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Anyone come across any third party interactive widgets yet? I know about Apple's music, reminders and home widgets but I don't use any of them.

I think they will need to update their widgets, and I don’t see that happening until iOS 17 comes out in September. We are still waiting for live activities support from many large apps so it may never happen for most of them.

The sad part is one of the best apps out there with the best devs is shutting down.
 
I think they will need to update their widgets, and I don’t see that happening until iOS 17 comes out in September. We are still waiting for live activities support from many large apps so it may never happen for most of them.

The sad part is one of the best apps out there with the best devs is shutting down.
Agree. We won't see any until Apple starts accepting app submissions for apps built for iOS 17...which won't happen until iOS 17 is closer to release in the fall.

Same thing happened last year with the new Lock Screen widgets. They weren't available for third party apps until after iOS 16 was released.
 
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It's a shame but I agree as well. I was just hoping that some devs or major apps (eg. Spotify) would jump onboard early.
 
My understanding is that, Testflight versions excepted, apps which use a new API aren't allowed to be released until the OS is out of beta.
Actually, they accept them about the week before iOS releases to be reviewed, but don't distribute them until release.
 
My observation is that devs hardly bother to adopt new iOS features anymore. For some (like meta) it’s business decisions like they want you to use the app, not get all your information outside of the app already

This could be to devs disadvantage, as it might just encourage more people to move towards Apple’s native apps.
 
They can’t even if they want to. Apple literally won’t accept the app updates.

Technically they can, through TestFlight builds. Not the same as the app store, and a lot of big names usually keep their major iOS SDK TestFlight builds private, but it is possible.

My observation is that devs hardly bother to adopt new iOS features anymore. For some (like meta) it’s business decisions like they want you to use the app, not get all your information outside of the app already

Developers add support for whatever there is an incentive to support. There's lots of features, new and old, that have great developer support. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets are very popular and found in many of the most downloaded apps, so interactive widgets will be something a lot of apps update to support. I mean even your example company, Meta, has widgets for Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.
 
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I know we won't see any 3rd Party until September.

But are the only stock interactive widgets right now just music, podcasts, home & reminders?

I was hoping to be able to scroll through my calendar appt's and maybe scroll in weather via the widget.
 
I know we won't see any 3rd Party until September.

But are the only stock interactive widgets right now just music, podcasts, home & reminders?

I was hoping to be able to scroll through my calendar appt's and maybe scroll in weather via the widget.
Weather & calendar are no different, mainly cos those one don't really have anything to scroll for.
 
Tried only on ipad OS17, but I was diappointed that I cannot dimm my nanoleaf light with the widget, only on and off.
 
Weather & calendar are no different, mainly cos those one don't really have anything to scroll for.

A list of appointments, the next month etc. It's also the same with Reminders, it's limited to just 4 entries you can't scroll.

This seems to be by design as it would interfere when scrolling through a stack of widgets but it's still a major limitation. Some arrows maybe would be a workaround
 
Tried only on ipad OS17, but I was diappointed that I cannot dimm my nanoleaf light with the widget, only on and off.
Hmm.. Apple make the widget like a big on/off button. Perhaps it’s better to have a button within the widget to turn light on/off. Then you’ll be able to swipe up/down on widget to adjust intensity of the light.
 
Hmm.. Apple make the widget like a big on/off button. Perhaps it’s better to have a button within the widget to turn light on/off. Then you’ll be able to swipe up/down on widget to adjust intensity of the light.
Swiping on a widget is unlikely, as you swipe to change screens, access spotlight search, etc.
 
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home widget seems to be the best one

I wish the podcasts and music widget let you skip songs. That said having a play option least makes the widget usable.
 
But for skipping song you can use dynamic island. That will be mess with more options to controle the music.

It's possible even from controle center. 🫣
 
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I only use the Reminders widget on my phone so far and it's more annoying than useful. I constantly mark them as completed when I don't want to when scrolling or trying to actually open the app.
 
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