Widgets: Pros and Cons

[jimbo1mcm]

If IOS 5 has the capability for widgets on the homepage, I guess it will be okay. I had widgets on my Droid X home page and I could just press on one to dial someone. The only problem is that I inadvertently dialed someone frequently when I was putting the phone back in my pocket. It got to the point that I usually just waited for the 30 second timeout on the homescreen before putting the phone back in my pocket.

I think if the capability of widgets comes with IOS 5, a useful feature would be a double tap to activate it. That would eliminate accidental " pocket " calls.

 

[Yumunum]

If IOS 5 has the capability for widgets on the homepage, I guess it will be okay. I had widgets on my Droid X home page and I could just press on one to dial someone. The only problem is that I inadvertently dialed someone frequently when I was putting the phone back in my pocket. It got to the point that I usually just waited for the 30 second timeout on the homescreen before putting the phone back in my pocket.

I think if the capability of widgets comes with IOS 5, a useful feature would be a double tap to activate it. That would eliminate accidental " pocket " calls.

I've had a good number of Android phones... And after long strenuous searches, I finally found the solution for that problem.

Lock button.

 

[Shenaniganz08]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

I've never understood the point of widgets for a mobile device

but im willing to change my views if someone has a good example

 

[maflynn]

I've used widgets on my android phones and found that its easy to balance widget/battery life. I kept only a small number of widgets active at anyone point.

I've seen other folks home screens and they were filled with widgets. Less is more in this case.

 

[Biolizard]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

I've never understood the point of widgets for a mobile device

but im willing to change my views if someone has a good example

You might not, but others may desire having that information to hand without needing to launch into an app.

 

[Yumunum]

You might not, but others may desire having that information to hand without needing to launch into an app.

Yep. I miss widgets from Android, they were handy. Surprisingly I don't miss them too much though. If Apple adds them to iOS I have a feeling their execution will be of more quality than Google's, which would make me think I might appreciate them a little more. (if done right) We'll just have to see what Monday brings.

 

[Fliesen]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

I've never understood the point of widgets for a mobile device

but im willing to change my views if someone has a good example

or just a widget that allows you to turn wifi on / off right from the homescreen without having to go into Settings -> Wi-Fi
(or Settings -> General -> Bluetooth, for that matter)

i don't need custom widgets, really, but having Wi-Fi or brightness settings easily accessible, or even the first line of missed text messages or unread emails (which would kind of fall into the 'better notifications' category), i would welcome with open arms. As long as it's done right and doesn't create too much clutter, i'm fine with it.

the calendar app icon already pretty much IS a widget, showing the current day of the week AND date at first glance.
That one weather app that uses the notification badge to show the current temperature is also kind of a decent idea.

i do think there's plenty of people who jailbreak mainly for having SBSettings or LockInfo, which pretty much provide these kinds of 'Lockscreen information widgets' and '3G / WiFi / Bluetooth / Brightness toggles'

 

[Biolizard]

Yeah, I'm still on an iPhone 3G and generally stay on 2G to preserve battery life, only turning on 3G when I actually need it. The Settings app is quite slow so it's always a pain to do this transition.

I know that'll be a moot point for iOS 5 since it won't come to the 3G, and I'll probably get iPhone 5 which will be much faster and have a better battery, but it'll still be handy.

 

[Alaerian]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

Exactly. I don't believe widgets are necessary at all. If it's too much of a hassle to open the TWC app to check the coming weather, then apparently it's already not that important to you.

Why on earth do you need a weather widget anyhow? All a widget is going to do is show you the current status - pretty sure you can look out a window for that.

 

[Wicked1]

Not a big fan of Widgets because then it will look like Apple is copying Android, however notifications for Text, Calendar, Email and Weather on the Lock screen would be nice. I hate getting a some sort of popup email or text and not being able to read it, I know there are apps if you are jailbroken, but I have not been JB since my 3GS, I prefer the Stock look, works well for me.

I would be happy if Apple put the Spring Board feature on the new iOS, because when I was JB it was so much easier to turn BT and WiFi on and off with the swipe of a finger, that would be Way Cool.

 

[Smoothness]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

I've never understood the point of widgets for a mobile device

but im willing to change my views if someone has a good example

What's point of lock screen, ifnpeople can see my new emails,instant msgs, etc

 

[kevinof]

What? They can't! Most lockscreens (including android) don't show any "data" unless you really really want them to.

Also someone else asked why you would want widgets - For me its not about instant updates but instead ease of access. I have almost full screen widgets and I use about 4 of them - one for calendar, one for email, twitter and fb. It means that I can flick left or right and get a quick view of what's happening. I don't have to open any app unless I see something that's come in and want to know more.

If I don't have a widget and I want to check the calendar I have to go find the calendar and open it. Likewise with mail. I can see which emails have come in and only bother to open mail when I see something important.

What's point of lock screen, ifnpeople can see my new emails,instant msgs, etc

 

[BlindMellon]

Exactly. I don't believe widgets are necessary at all. If it's too much of a hassle to open the TWC app to check the coming weather, then apparently it's already not that important to you.

Why on earth do you need a weather widget anyhow? All a widget is going to do is show you the current status - pretty sure you can look out a window for that.

Ah, you're the dude I see at the store wearing a tee shirt and shorts when it's sunny and 35 degrees outside!

 

[bengtc]

ya who wants new features

 

[Fliesen]

Why on earth do you need a weather widget anyhow? All a widget is going to do is show you the current status - pretty sure you can look out a window for that.

while i personally don't care about a weather widget per se ...


"why do we even have those red badges on our apps?

If missed calls are important to you, open the Phone app every 10 minutes."

scnr :/

 

[Alaerian]

Ah, you're the dude I see at the store wearing a tee shirt and shorts when it's sunny and 35 degrees outside!

/facepalm
I'm fairly certain I'm smart enough to know that if it's december, then shorts are not appropriate.

Nice try, there.

while i personally don't care about a weather widget per se ...


"why do we even have those red badges on our apps?

If missed calls are important to you, open the Phone app every 10 minutes."

scnr :/

Considering the missed call notification isn't a "widget," your argument is invalid.

 

[Nyalotha]

35 is actually pretty warm?

Silly americans


And just because it's not a widget doesn't justify his argument as you simply shooting down a feature.

 

[Fliesen]

/facepalm
I'm fairly certain I'm smart enough to know that if it's december, then shorts are not appropriate.

Nice try, there.


Considering the missed call notification isn't a "widget," your argument is invalid.

of course it's exaggerated

but still it's "information without having to open the app"

 

[sotorious]

so why the hell do i need IMMEDIATE weather updates ?

or immediate facebook updates draining my battery all day ?

I've never understood the point of widgets for a mobile device

but im willing to change my views if someone has a good example

There is plenty of good use of them. I miss them so much especially my news widget. How many times a day do you unlock your phone scroll threw a couple of pages and lock it again. Well widgets will be perfect. WHAT NEW STATUS?! while you do your unlock. OR WHAT OSAMA IS KILLED during your unlock and screen scroll.

 

[Bear]

Widgets on the iPhone and iPod Touch have limited usefulness due to the size of the screen. (Note, I did not say they were useless.)

I see this as more of a feature for the iPad with its larger screen.

The screen size is the limiting factor for the number of widgets that can be displayed at once.

 

[ChazUK]

Why on earth do you need a weather widget anyhow? All a widget is going to do is show you the current status - pretty sure you can look out a window for that.

Have you ever used a smartphone with a widgeting system at all? That is quite an inaccurate statement.

The screenshot below is directly left to my main homescreen. In it you can see the current and next 4 days forecast in the weather widget I'm using. This is location aware and updated as I travel which I find quite handy.

Also I have the stock power control widget (Wifi, Bluettooth, GPS, Sync on/off and brightness) plus the muisic control widget and an Audiogalaxy widget.

For me, widgets save me battery by enabling me to easily turn things on and off. On my iPod touch I have to venture into the settings to turn off Wifi and Bluetooth which isn't exactly convenient and I sometimes forget to which means it is haplessly looking for access points in my pocket whilst I'm about.

What made you think widgets were limited to a single day at all?

 

[Fliesen]

the people argueing about 'omg widgets' fail to realize that the lockscreen iPod controls, the rotation lock on the multitasking bar, the brightness slider on the iPad's multitasking bar, the calendar app icon, those are all widgets to some extent.

I'd love to have similar functionalty to turn 3G, Wifi, Bluetooth, Tethering etc. on and off.

 

[daleycss]

I feel if Apple adds widgets to iOS 5, they will do it in a different way. They may look like widgets, but thinking about who Apple is, they're not going to just take a few Android widgets and make them look good for the iPhone. They're going to really change it. I don't know how, I just have a gut feeling.

 

[nefan65]

I think most people assume weather, and giant clocks with widgets. HTC started it, with WM6.5 years ago, and it stuck. So it kind of became synonymous with Android; at least that's my take

I could see a lock screen, or similar with upcoming appt's. Or possibly an urgent message, or similar? I think there's some value to that; but not at the expense of battery usage. It's just as easy to get a buzz, or something, and then unlock it and see. So I think it's personal really. I say include it, but give the option to disable. And ur battery life stinks, well...ur issue? lol

 

[lifeguard]

I really don't care if we get widgets or not.... but there better not be a freaking iAdd scrolling across trying to sell me some crap