Speaker 1: Apple really wants you to use widgets. All of the major Apple operating system updates coming this year are leaning more into widgets. We’re getting Apple Watch widgets to flip through and widgets on your Mac desktop and sideways widgets when the iPhone is in standby mode. But as a tech reporter, I have a confession to make. My name is Bridget and I don’t widget. I just never cared about taking the time to set up widgets. Of course, I know what widgets are. It goes far back beyond Android phones. I was using widgets [00:00:30] when we said Web 2.0 was the future. I’m talking 2007. I was downloading news and weather widgets on a device called that. Hum be. It was a smart home screen ahead of its time. Apple had widgets before that. Even in 2005 on the fifth version of Mac Os, it was named Tiger.
Speaker 1: There were many applications called widgets and it was part of the dashboard that was 18 years ago. And even if you weren’t on Mac, there were Windows widgets. Remember Vista? Yeah, they called them [00:01:00] gadgets. So I know widgets, it ain’t nothing new, but why is Apple pushing hard on widgets now again? Alright, find Apple if you insist that widgets are going to be a thing this year. I guess it’s one more thing I’ll have to poke around this week on my iPhone to see if it makes my life any better. But will adding widgets to all of our screens really make computing easier or just more cluttered? Maybe it depends how you widget. I’m Bridget Carey and this is one more thing at the WWDC keynote reveal [00:01:30] or this month, apple gave us a lot of widget talk. Think of them as mini apps with information updated at a glance and it’s going to be front and center of your iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch.
Speaker 1: But you’ll have some control over how much it’s in your face. You’ll start to see the new options appearing in operating system updates that are rolling out later this year. And there’s gonna be more interactive widgets in iPad OS 17 and iOS 17. So you can take action right from the home screen or lock screen just [00:02:00] by tapping these little app previews. Instead of diving into the full app, you’re gonna be able to control smart home devices, pause music or check off items on your to-do list, that kind of thing. The point is just to get something done quickly without loading the whole app. Of course the iPhone already has the option of widgets, but there’s gonna be even more ways to widget I 17 is gonna have a standby mode. It’ll show previews of information on the screen when it is sideways and plugged in.
Speaker 1: Like a smart home display on Mac [00:02:30] OS 14 Sonoma. You can slap some widgets right on the desktop to get information at a glance. Assuming your desktop isn’t already cluttered with documents and watch OS 10 has probably the biggest change routine. The digital crown is gonna reveal widgets right on the watch base. You can scroll to flip through these cards of information like your timers activity, progress, weather. It also is smart enough to show you information that’s relevant to the time of day, like medication reminders or upcoming meetings. I am a [00:03:00] simple woman who likes the simple home screen of my most used apps. I also just never got around to trying widgets cuz it felt like homework and I would push my other app icons out of the way and not all apps I use have a widget. My work uses Microsoft Outlook and the widget for that is blocked.
Speaker 1: So calendar widgets become kind of useless. But regardless, I’m diving in y’all. Earlier this week I started adding a bunch of widgets to find what works and what doesn’t. I found it a bit quirky honestly and not all that intuitive always on the iPhone. Like why [00:03:30] is it only showing me a limited number of widgets? If you press and hold your finger on a blank spot, you’re gonna get that little app jiggle and that’s when a plus sign is in the corner appearing for you to add a widget. You’re gonna see some options along with a list of every app that you can add a widget for. At least that’s the idea. I was not getting a true list of every possible widget on my iPhone. At first, Duolingo was not showing up as an option and neither were a few other apps I knew had widgets like the Calm app.
Speaker 1: As it turns out, sometimes I had to open the app [00:04:00] for it to jolt the system into showing it on the widget list. Go figure it’s there Now. That’s a lot of tinkering just to get a widget to work. I reached out to Apple for comment. I hope that experience can be smoothed out in Iowa 17. There are also different types of widgets. Sometimes a widget can only exist on the today view. That’s the page when you swipe right and you have to hit customize your today view to find the extra ones and the lock screen, it has its own different widgets. It’s a lot to navigate. So I need to talk to someone who is more [00:04:30] of a mobile widget wizard, like cnet, senior editor Lisa Edit Chico who just published a story about widgets after interviewing Apple’s Vice President of technology, Kevin Lynch and oh look, look at that. My widget is reminding me it’s time to interview her now. Lisa, I need to talk widgets.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, let’s do it. Okay, <laugh>,
Speaker 1: Why is there such a push you think to have more widgets in all aspects of our Apple products?
Speaker 2: So the idea behind these widgets is to just have all of these pieces of information kind of just living [00:05:00] on your home screen. Kind of like being part of the operating system where you can just glance at your home screen and see if it’s time to take your medication or go to your next meeting without having to like open the app, open the calendar, open the health app
Speaker 1: On my watch. I’m really just using it to like set alarms, play music, find my iPhone. But why do you think Apple is putting more of a focus on widgets? At least in the watch too. Think
Speaker 2: About how tiny that screen is, right? If if you wanna do something like [00:05:30] set an alarm, see when your next meeting is, whatever, you don’t wanna take too many taps and swipes to find it. If you’re doing this more than two or three times when you’re trying to do something, I feel like that’s a bad sign. So with widgets, the idea is to surface that information really easily with just a scroll up from your main clock face just to access that information. And one thing that I think is gonna be really useful, I haven’t tested this yet, but if you have a timer going that’s gonna be the first widget that you see when you scroll up because that’s something that I use constantly. I’m [00:06:00] always setting timers and the problem is I never wanna dig into my app list and find the timer app to see how much time is left. Do you
Speaker 1: Think by putting these widgets more on the Mac Mac desktop or we’re gonna be using our computers differently?
Speaker 2: I think it could be very helpful, but I also think for Apple consistency is a really important thing and having the experience look consistent, whether you’re using a Mac, an iPhone or an Apple watch is something that I think they value a lot. So having widgets that work across all three I [00:06:30] think is important for that as well.
Speaker 1: Widgets are not new, but do you think Apple has a bit of a learning curve for its customers to get us using widgets? I think a lot of people sometimes just keep doing the same thing they’re used to doing.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think Apple users in particular are probably, and this is just my opinion, um, they like the comfort, they like just doing the same thing they’ve been doing. There might be a little bit of a learning curve. You also don’t have to use widgets. So the people who do think it’s too much of a learning curve, don’t need to use them. Do
Speaker 1: You use widgets and what do you use?
Speaker 2: [00:07:00] I do. I use the calendar widget and I use the weather widget cuz those are the two things that I really wanna see when I look down at my home screen first and foremost. And then over when I swipe over to the um, like today view, like not my home screen but the screen that’s adjacent to it, I have like photo memories and stuff like
Speaker 1: That. I maybe put too many widgets on my screen because I wanna try everything. What’s some advice for new widget people like me,
Speaker 2: I think just think about what are the first [00:07:30] things you do when you pick up your phone? What are you usually going to check? Is it your calendar? Is it how many calories you need to burn to close your move ring? Is it photos? Whatever those things are. That’s probably what belongs on your home screen.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you Lisa. I look forward to going into this new widget world with you. Of
Speaker 2: Course. Happy to help. <laugh>,
Speaker 1: I can see widget cards making sense on an Apple watch, assuming it doesn’t get [00:08:00] in the way of just glancing at the time and assuming you’ll have control of wit shows up on the screen if you want control. I’m still testing out widgets on my phone to find the right fit. I never remember to do Duolingo, but this little bird sassy square here is always in my face. Maybe that’ll motivate me. There is an app called Streaks. It has some nice visuals of checking off everyday task reminders. Maybe I’ll use some apps more often if I see them presented in a cool way, but I feel like I’m relearning where things are [00:08:30] and it’s making me slower to get to my favorite apps. Maybe this will get more fulfilling in a week or so. As I learn new habits, let me know what widgets you find useful or how widgets have changed how you do some tasks. Is there an app that is good just because of its widget? Are there apps that get the concept of a widget wrong? Did I make this episode just so I could rhyme Bridget with Widget? And how many times did I say widget? Share your thoughts below and I’ll give you a status update next Friday on Britt’s Widgets. I mean, I’m sure there will also be Apple News to talk [00:09:00] about too. Widget you later.
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