Widgets - Use them ? iOS & Android

[MRU]

Widgets are often seen as the main differentiator between iOS & android and is cited as one of the main reasons users choose one platform over the other.

Out of curiosity as an android owner who rarely if ever uses widgets - I wonder what ratio of widget owners we have here, also as many of us are multi platform owners - how many use widgets in the Notification drop down on iOS ?

 

[HiDEF]

As of now I have two widgets on my Android screen, weather and agenda.

In iOS, calendar, weather, and camera+. IMO, apples integration of widgets kinda stinks but I play along.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Technically, every icon on the homescreen is a widget. This is why you can put the same icon in multiple folders. So technically nobody can say "No" for Android.

I myself use exactly 6 widgets as shown here https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...oid-home-screen.1432306/page-54#post-21300153

 

[MRU]

As of now I have two widgets on my Android screen, weather and agenda.

In iOS, calendar, weather, and camera+. IMO, apples integration of widgets kinda stinks but I play along.

I have a weather clock on my androids only. On iOS I can't say I really pull down and look at any of the 'widget' information.

 

[MRU]

Technically, every icon on the homescreen is a widget. This is why you can put the same icon in multiple folders. So technically nobody can say "No" for Android.

I myself use exactly 6 widgets as shown here https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...oid-home-screen.1432306/page-54#post-21300153

It's why I didn't add windows phone as tiles/live tiles really muddy the water

 

[C DM]

On iOS I think a few dozen of the apps I have on the phone have a widget, although I only activated and use around half a dozen of them (primarily those related to reminders, calendar, weather, sports scores, TV shows, carrier data usage, and the like).

 

[youradhere4222]

Widgets on iOS are crippled but I use a few. On Android I had a calendar widget on the left side of my home screen and a list of my course grades and upcoming assignments on the right side (using the Canvas app).

 

[apolloa]

Use them every single day and I love them on Android.

On my Nexus 5:

Gmail
BBC Weather
Google Calendar
Google News stream (sends stories from random news sites like BBC, Reuters newspaper sites etc)

On my Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact:

Sony Email App widget
BBC Weather
Google News stream
Google Calendar

 

[Tig Bitties]

On my Nexus 6 a clock + weather widget on home screen. Then other screens have my favorite sports team widgets. Go Blackhawks . And other screen has calendar widget.

I mean come on Apple, allow us to put widgets on the home screen already.

 

[spinedoc77]

Widgets are often seen as the main differentiator between iOS & android and is cited as one of the main reasons users choose one platform over the other.

Out of curiosity as an android owner who rarely if ever uses widgets - I wonder what ratio of widget owners we have here, also as many of us are multi platform owners - how many use widgets in the Notification drop down on iOS ?

I find widgets absolutely indispensable. I can, at a simple glance, see my combined email inbox, google voice inbox, calendar, OneNote notes, google now headlines, text messages and even cool things like a live screen of my babycam. I'm not talking about just one liners either, I can see several items like email or messages, I can actually scroll through them on the homescreen without opening the app itself. This makes me so much more productive. I constantly have a barrage of input from all of these sources, and to simply glance at my phone and see them all in real time really frees up my time.

I could never live without widgets again. I think that's why the last couple times I tried to like an iPhone again I just couldn't, I felt much too limited.

 

[iSheep5S]

Samsung Galaxy S5 - Weather clock and active apps.

iPhone 6 plus - Weather Pro.

 

[ardchoille50]

I have been on iOS devices since the beginning of 2012 and I've just setup my first widget on my iPhone 6 and my iPad Air 2. I found a nice weather app that I wanted and purchased it not knowing that it included two widgets - I only noticed them when I went to edit the Notification Center. I like it

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I didn't like them when I was on Android and felt they made screens look cluttered an messy. I've added a few to my pull down menu on iOS but to be honest I never use them.

 

[lowendlinux]

No I don't like widgets.

 

[Abazigal]

I have about 6 or 7 widgets on my iPhone 5s's notification shade. Quite handy for quickly accessing info at a glance, I must say.

 

[Fireblade]

I use a widget on every homescreen:

Weather
Agenda
News feed
Calendar

 

[The Game 161]

they are important to me

got like 8..

weather
s note
3 twitter widgets
cbs sports news and scores
goal.com news

 

[MRU]

Thanks guys - interesting stuff. I'll keep this thread live so that after us regulars have posted - we can get more opinions from less frequent posters / readers

 

[The Game 161]

i've decided to start using pure TW again to see if my battery life is better with less widgets...as i've noticed average battery life on nova lately. will see if it is due to nova or if it's a 5.0 issue.

 

[Vegastouch]

Android i use probably 4-5. I dont have anything with iOS.

 

[tbayrgs]

On Android, I typically use 3-4. On iOS, I presently have 10 activated, of which I regularly use maybe 7 of them. I know I'm in the minority here in this sub forum but I much prefer the iOS implementation since they're accessible everywhere, but that's just my preference.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

No widgets on my phones (both platforms).
On Tablet: weather, world clock.

 

[nviz22]

On Android I used several. On iOS, I only use ESPN, but I need help changing the ESPN team scores.

 

[C DM]

On Android I used several. On iOS, I only use ESPN, but I need help changing the ESPN team scores.

Try Yahoo! Sports as it displays all the scores without needing to wait for it to change.

 

[cbobb123]

I love using Zooper widgets