The ability to use custom widgets on iOS and iPadOS is one of the most attractive features of these systems. The custom feature means that you can design these widgets to your taste and place them wherever you desire. This gives users more control over the design of their home screen. However, there are a plethora of widgets available and in all honesty, some are more interesting than others. Nevertheless, in terms of choosing, it boils down to personal preference. However, if you do not have any preference and get confused when making a choice, below are some pretty good options that you may want to consider.
What is a widget?
We acknowledge that not everybody knows what a widget is so we will briefly explain what it is before proceeding. Simply put, a widget is an extension of an application. Widgets provide easy access to the information of an app. This means that to get information from the app, you don’t necessarily have to open the app. There are widgets for different apps like weather, photography, fitness, news, or stocks and shares, to mention a few. Furthermore, users have the option of downloading the widgets or using the preinstalled widgets. This gives more options with respect to how you want your device display to appear.
Top 7 best widgets for iPhone and iPad
1. Widgetsmith
With Widgetsmith, users can custom the widgets to change multiple times in a single day. This app extension is a perfect tool to customize your home screen. Like we said earlier, it covers all topics that you can imagine. Like many apps, Widgetsmith has a premium version which is available for a fee. However, the basic version is available for free and it provides pretty good features. It can show users weather information in the morning, available meetings and even reminders for the preceding day.
2. Spark – Email App by Readdle
Another interestingly smooth way to custom your inbox is with the Spark – Email App by Readdle. This app enables users to seamlessly organize their emails. You can get notifications for emails from people you know. It will ignore spam mails as well as provides the option of connecting all your email accounts. Thus, you don’t need to swap from one mail to another to get your messages.
The widgets build permits users to choose up to three of them for quick access. Interesting picks are Recently Seen, Attachments, and Calendar. Furthermore, with this app, you can choose a large list to show you what’s waiting in your inbox or a small widget to just show you how many emails you have. If you need to see important information at a glance, then this is a great option.
3. Calm
Calm takes its name from its marketing point. Since the world is very stressful, Calm is here to bring some sort of calmness. Well, in this case, it is only bringing calmness from your smartphone. With a simple click, you can get Daily Calm as well as breathing exercises or Sleep Stories. The 10-minute guided meditation is the Daily Calm. However, Sleep Stories comes from popular figures like Stephen Fry, Matthew McConaughey and others. These are bedtime stories some of which are very interesting. Well, Calm is not free and you have to pay an annual fee of ÂŁ28.99. In addition, if you need lifetime access, the fee is ÂŁ299.99.
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4. Flipboard
Flipboard is basically interested in your interests. It can be pretty annoying when topics you have absolutely no interest in pop up in your timeline. Thanks to this widget, you can set your topics of interest and the major headlines you want to follow. These will be the topics that will appear on your Home Screen.
You also have options in terms of the size of the widget, it is available in four sizes. The thumbnail size comes with a single headline while the largest widget contains four of the latest stories. Furthermore, you can choose different feeds including the âFor Youâ feed, âDaily Editionâ â10 For Todayâ or âFlipboard Picksâ. The “For You” feed gives you your custom preference while the “Daily Edition” provides the latest news. The “10 For Today” offers a selection of in-depth stories while the “Flipboard Picks” shows stories that Flipboard thinks are interesting.
Interestingly, Flipboard news does not come from a single source. It draws information from thousands of sources to suit your preference.
5. Google Maps
Google provides a lot of tools to help users better interact with their smartphones. In all honesty, Google Tools are quite interesting and Google Maps is one of the most popular Google Mobile Services. Take the Google Travel Time widget as an example, it gives you your travel time. So, the time you will spend from one location to another can be gotten with a single click.
Furthermore, you also have access to widgets that gives other information like local traffic, shopping hours, restaurant reviews and most recently air quality (available in a few regions). Of course, Google Maps helps you to quickly find places in regions that are alien to you. You can fine petrol stations, grocery stores, restaurants and so on.
6. Find My
This is an important pre-installed application from Apple that many people do not use regularly. However, when needed, it might just be a “life saver”. Some users are really careless with their smaller gadgets like AirPods and Apple Watch. With Apple’s Find My app, you can keep track of these devices. In fact, if you have an AirTag, you can also keep track of anything so long as the AirTag is attached to it.
Interestingly, the widget gives you this information without loading the app. There are two options including People and Items. You can make a choice for the one you want on your Home Screen.
7. Fitness
Another pre-installed Apple app on the list is Fitness. This app can seamlessly sync with your Apple Watch and iPhone. However, this is something that will be relevant for those interested in their fitness. It offers a healthy fitness routine that will help your development. It gives users information on the active minutes, calories burned and time standing. It also shows the information on Progress Ring – this reveals your progress for the day and how close you are to hitting your set goal.
Conclusion
It is important to note that the widgets above offer much more than the description. We only gave excerpts to the interesting aspects of these apps. Furthermore, there are other decent widgets but these ones stand out. Please note that all these apps are available on the App Store. To download and install them, simply search for their titles on the App Store.
