
Ask HN: Do you use widgets on Android? - imakesoft
As a designer I&#x27;m interested of widget usage on Android. I found this (old) post where HTC claims that people don&#x27;t use widgets: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imore.com&#x2F;htc-learns-2013-what-apple-knew-back-2007-widgets-arent-widely-used<p>I&#x27;m a bit confused because I know many people who use widgets on Android. So, do Android users use widgets or not? I guess widgets are mainly for techies than casual non-tech-savvy users? What do you think?
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achow
I cannot survive without the calendar widget.

My need is to have a glanceable schedule for the day - what is coming up, when
and where; or how packed the day is or not. Calendar notifications don't work
for me as I need information at the back of my mind. Having a widget
displaying information without me seeking it out, helps my back of mind
scheduler.

Now thinking about it, Widgets (atleast for my case) acts like an ambient
device.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_device)

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zhte415
Air Quality Index (almost everyone I know uses this, but I'm in a more
polluted part of the world).

Some internal company ones giving quick KPI/dashboarding. I think this market
is under-served by corporate apps in general. If a process is critical to an
organisation no matter it's size, a widget can be a great tool for monitoring
it.

When a real-time statistic is sufficiently important I prefer a widget to
needing to load (or even develop) a dedicated app. I can then go through
unified web-based (responsive) interface to take any action needed.

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tonylemesmer
Nope.

I perceive them to use up battery and memory and I don't want the unnecessary
distraction. Whether they actually do use battery or not is another question.

I used to use a wifi/BT/GPS toggle widget but all that is now in the
notification drawer there's no need.

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lovelearning
Just two - digital clock, for the day and date; and power control, because it
lets me toggle wifi and GPS with a single press unlike the settings drawer
that opens settings dialog and requires more clicks. Moto on Android KitKat.

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reitanqild
I so want to use them but I haven't found any good reason yet.

What I have used instead (but not much ) is the OneNote badge. It works kind
of like Facebook "conversation bubbles", giving me a shortcut to OneNote from
any app.

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seren
I use one for weather, another one for calendar. But given than Google Now
prompts your for both weather information and next meetings, I should probably
get rid of them.

There are not a lot of information you need to have always up to date.

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tkjef
I was just re-arranging my widgets last night! I use the bookmarks, google
now, email, calendar & spotify widgets.

I used to use the Weather widget, but switched that with spotify and a smaller
clock widget.

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imakesoft
Who's bookmark widget are you using?

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tkjef
Chrome. I've since just made a whole separate page for the bookmark widget
(it's resizeable), and that seems even more visually helpful.

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Raed667
I only use "Power Control" it allows me to toggle
WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS/Synchronization

I have tried using other widgets but I found myself always opening the App
instead.

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thecupisblue
Nope. Had a battery stat widget which I removed, now I have this calendar and
all-in-one widgets which I basically never open, they just stand there for
looks. Don't know many folks that use them.

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odesian
I like the idea of them but from my experience widgets have been lacking.
Whether that be from not updating correctly/timely to just not working at all.

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on_and_off
They are hidden in an hard to discover menu, as a rule of thumb, it means that
the casual user won't ever use them.

There is a niche of users that can't live without them though.

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imakesoft
Is it important that the widget looks nice?

