Widgets: Pros and Cons

[wordoflife]

i just don't get the huge desire some people have for widgets. Now a better notification system in iOS 5, yes. But the ability to see the weather at this exact moment, without having to go through the horribly laborious task of taping on the weather icon?! /sarcasm off

I'll take better battery life and tap the weather icon.

I agree. I doubt anyone actually taps the weather icon each time they unlock their device ... they don't care.

 

[tigress666]

I'm excited about the idea of widgets. But I don't want them taking half my screen up (I saw some slideshow pretending to be leaked Apple images and the first image was a widget for time that took up half the screen. I don't like the generic Android screen - the one with the huge clock on the top half -you see cause of that and I don't want my phone to be like that).

Personally I'd like the idea of live icons where the icons are able to update themselves. Let's me keep my list of icons on the screen and not waste space up with some huge widget. Or at least a seperate page for widgets (of which I'd probably just not use them then cause what's the point if I still have to switch pages to see them. Might as well open the app and get more detailed info).

I'd also like to see widgets for changing settings without going into the settings app. I'd dedicate a page to those (cause with settings sometimes you have to open multiple pages to get what you want).

 

[Sodner]

And one more thing.........

The thing I hated about my Droid and Android was the lack of polish. No two applications looked alike or felt alike. Same for the widgets. Unless you rooted to customize, all the widgets were different shapes and size and colors. I thought it looked horrible. Though I do not think they are at all necessary, at least if Apple did widgets, they would do them right.

 

[125037]

I personally don't care for widgets. I think it takes away from the simplicity and just makes it look to bloated/busy on screen and the "functionality" doesn't win me over. I'd rather just tap the weather icon to see what I need (for example). That's just me, though.

 

[peapody]

Widgets are handy I believe for instant access and viewing of information. That is what I appreciate in them compared to what we have with our ios devices.

 

[ChazUK]

Because (most) of the time, Apple finds a way to make those things (like widgets) functional on their devices. They ARE a stupid idea, and we'll bash them to the hills before - because they are oft implemented poorly.

Which widgets are "oft implimented poorly "specifically? By use of the word oft, I'm assuming you mean the majority of them are poor, am I correct in this? I'm seeing lots of complaints here about battery usage and poor impllimentation but no solid examples.

I'll be honest and say that if a certain widget was intrusive or faulty I would simply not use it but I can't for the life of me think of one that has had a massive impact on the many Android devices I've used.

So far for me the benefits of having them vastly outweigh these poor widgets that I haven't come across thus far.

 

[shelbymayer]

Which widgets are "oft implimented poorly "specifically? By use of the word oft, I'm assuming you mean the majority of them are poor, am I correct in this? I'm seeing lots of complaints here about battery usage and poor impllimentation but no solid examples.

I'll be honest and say that if a certain widget was intrusive or faulty I would simply not use it but I can't for the life of me think of one that has had a massive impact on the many Android devices I've used.

So far for me the benefits of having them vastly outweigh these poor widgets that I haven't come across so far.

THIS!!!!!!

How many of you people have actually used android and widgets? I'm willing to bet not a lot...most of you have the "we don't have it on our phone so it is stupid and pointless" mentality.

 

[BlindMellon]

THIS!!!!!!

How many of you people have actually used android and widgets? I'm willing to bet not a lot...most of you have the "we don't have it on our phone so it is stupid and pointless" mentality.

+1

Widgets are handy I believe for instant access and viewing of information. That is what I appreciate in them compared to what we have with our ios devices.

Well, we can guarantee that 90% of the folks here bitching about widgets will be singing a different tune once Steve sprinkles his magic unicorn dust on them.

 

[Alaerian]

Originally Posted by Alaerian
Because (most) of the time, Apple finds a way to make those things (like widgets) functional on their devices. They ARE a stupid idea, and we'll bash them to the hills before - because they are oft implemented poorly.

Which widgets are "oft implimented poorly "specifically? By use of the word oft, I'm assuming you mean the majority of them are poor, am I correct in this? I'm seeing lots of complaints here about battery usage and poor impllimentation but no solid examples.

I'll be honest and say that if a certain widget was intrusive or faulty I would simply not use it but I can't for the life of me think of one that has had a massive impact on the many Android devices I've used.

So far for me the benefits of having them vastly outweigh these poor widgets that I haven't come across thus far.

You took my entire post out of context. I was responding to this post:

As are all things before Steve Jobs has blessed them.
Then they're magic and how did we get by without them...

I wasn't referring to widgets. I was referring to the other badly implemented ideas from other manufactureres that Apple managed to get right. Granted, that's not everything that has ever made it into an OS - think multitasking.

I'm sorry if you didn't understand my post. I assumed it was quite clear.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

THIS!!!!!!

How many of you people have actually used android and widgets? I'm willing to bet not a lot...most of you have the "we don't have it on our phone so it is stupid and pointless" mentality.

and guess what you are wrong. Most people who use android phones use several widgets. It is the other way around. Very few DO NOT use some type of widget on their phone.

 

[ChazUK]

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Originally Posted by Alaerian
Because (most) of the time, Apple finds a way to make those things (like widgets) functional on their devices. They ARE a stupid idea, and we'll bash them to the hills before - because they are oft implemented poorly.

Which widgets are "oft implimented poorly "specifically? By use of the word oft, I'm assuming you mean the majority of them are poor, am I correct in this? I'm seeing lots of complaints here about battery usage and poor impllimentation but no solid examples.

I'll be honest and say that if a certain widget was intrusive or faulty I would simply not use it but I can't for the life of me think of one that has had a massive impact on the many Android devices I've used.

So far for me the benefits of having them vastly outweigh these poor widgets that I haven't come across thus far.

You took my entire post out of context. I was responding to this post:

As are all things before Steve Jobs has blessed them.
Then they're magic and how did we get by without them...

I wasn't referring to widgets. I was referring to the other badly implemented ideas from other manufactureres that Apple managed to get right. Granted, that's not everything that has ever made it into an OS - think multitasking.

I'm sorry if you didn't understand my post. I assumed it was quite clear.

Aah. As you mentioned "like widgets" in brackets I thought you were saying that the current smartphone operating systems with widgets were poorly implemented. Apologies of I have misinterpreted your post.

I'm not sure in what can be improved with regards to widgets today but it seems that a lot of people have opinions here with little to no actual reason. It would be nice if people could explain why they have the opinions they do with some solid reasons as to why the think like they do. I'm certainly willing to change and learn from other people's poor experiences.

Hopefully come Monday Apple and Jobs himself will show us how widgets can be done right. More "at a glance" information in iOS would be a lovely addition to the platform for those that want it as long as it's optional. That would benefit users of the entire platform. Those that want to can, those that don't simply don't.

 

[darkside flow]

I currently have the calendar (stock), clock and weather icons lined up first as they're animated icons (jailbroken). This has been great for me to see the time date or weather quickly.

I could see animated icons that pinched and zoomed into larger information based icos.

I just think apple will keep the aesthetics of the device clean compared to android. but I wouldn't be opposed to "widgets."

 

[shelbymayer]

and guess what you are wrong. Most people who use android phones use several widgets. It is the other way around. Very few DO NOT use some type of widget on their phone.

You completely misunderstood my post. I know most people who use android use widgets. I meant how many people on this forum bashing widgets have ever used an android device before? Again i'll bet not many, most people here are dedicated to the iphone and ios, and haven't experimentd with other OS's which is fine. I have owned every iphone there has been but right now I actually prefer android, but again thats MY opinion. I'm not trying to say android is better than IOS or vice versa, it's really about user preference!

 

[jfinli]

I loved the calendar widget when I had my Android. When I turned on my phone I had my next few appointments right on my home screen. I have to admit, sometimes I forget to press the calendar button on my iPhone ! I would be nice if my calendar was on my home screen!

 

[tigress666]

THIS!!!!!!

How many of you people have actually used android and widgets? I'm willing to bet not a lot...most of you have the "we don't have it on our phone so it is stupid and pointless" mentality.

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I'm not sure in what can be improved with regards to widgets today but it seems that a lot of people have opinions here with little to no actual reason. It would be nice if people could explain why they have the opinions they do with some solid reasons as to why the think like they do. I'm certainly willing to change and learn from other people's poor experiences.
.

You completely misunderstood my post. I know most people who use android use widgets. I meant how many people on this forum bashing widgets have ever used an android device before? Again i'll bet not many, most people here are dedicated to the iphone and ios, and haven't experimentd with other OS's which is fine.

Ok, I'm not quite the people you guys are talking about cause I'm honestly excited about the idea of widgets but I've never used Android or had widgets and honestly, I'd say I wouldn't buy a cellphone based on if it had widgets or not. So for me widgets aren't that important, I just think implemented right they could be pretty nifty and make the phone easier to use (especially if you allow widgets for phone settings and you could pick which settings you wanted widgets for). While I'm excited about them, I'm honesty pretty happy with iOS as is to tell the truth.

My opinion though is I don't like how Android has some icons/widgets taking up more space.

1. It looks ugly to me (I hate that Android clock they use on every promotional pic you see of Android). I like the more uniform grid of iOS to tell the truth.

2. Screens are small, even if you have one of the "huge" 4.5" screen (which no, I don't want my iphone screen bigger. I like the compromise between practicality of usage vs. practicality of phone size. It's nice where it is). I don't want half my space taken up by a widget (especially since I have a lot of apps) or even worse, an icon that tells you nothing. I would like that space to be able to display more of my most used apps that I can directly get to.

That being said, I'd love to see more interactive icons (basically icons that live update, the calendar showing the date and day would be nice, not just a number, the weather icon showing me an icon of today's weather would be awesome. Some icon sized widgets that you can choose for the settings you are most likely to change around a lot - you could even have a mini slider for brightness). But I want them to fit in the size of an icon, so I guess nothing too functional that it needs more room, at that point I'd rather just open the app then use up the screen space (for example for me facebook just telling me how many notifications I have is enough. Especially if they add in a notifications screen that you have a history of notifications. Then I could just use that to get a quicker glance of facebook updates I'm interested in).

 

[meechy]

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.

Well they are totally ***** widgets then compared to all the widgets you can get on android phones.

 

[meechy]

and one more thing.........

The thing i hated about my droid and android was the lack of polish. No two applications looked alike or felt alike. Same for the widgets. Unless you rooted to customize, all the widgets were different shapes and size and colors. I thought it looked horrible. Though i do not think they are at all necessary, at least if apple did widgets, they would do them right.

lol

 

[mysterioustko]

I personally don't care for widgets. I think it takes away from the simplicity and just makes it look to bloated/busy on screen and the "functionality" doesn't win me over. I'd rather just tap the weather icon to see what I need (for example). That's just me, though.

I'd have to disagree with you. It only makes the phone "busy/bloated" if you set it up that way. Take this screenshot of my G2X for example, there are only 3 things on the screen but yet they give a lot of functionality. The top and bottom widgets are RSS news feeds that give me updated news as it becomes available (the top is local news and the bottom is forex trading news). The middle clock/weather widget not only gives me the time and weather but it also gives me a notification if there are any severe weather alerts coming (ie. tornado watch). I always no about severe weather coming before it's broadcast on the television. Also, tapping the clock gives me quick access to my alarms.
To summarize, this one home screen gives a lot of functionality and does not cause any extra battery drainage. It is very convenient and useful. Bear in mind, this is just one of the home screens. I have another home screen dedicated to multimedia that has a youtube widget, a pandora widget, a google music beta widget. These are very useful as I can access multimedia content quickly and efficiently.

 

[Jagardn]

If widgets were implemented in iOS5, I'd like them to be on the lock screen, where you could swipe left/right to switch widgets easily without unlocking. The widgets also would not update unless you tapped the screen of the active widget, that way battery consumption wouldn't become an issue.

 

[neiltc13]

If you don't want them, then don't use them. But just like Flash, I'd much rather have the option of having them than not having them at all.

 

[Jagardn]

Is that a sperm count widget on your home screen?

 

[mysterioustko]

Is that a sperm count widget on your home screen?

LMAO! It's a live wallpaper called Seeds of Life where they swim around and the background color constantly changes lol.

 

[iApples]

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How on earth do you attribute a widget with people who suffer with ADD? What an idiotic statement.

Attention Deficit Disorder (also known as ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are terms used to describe patterns of behaviour that appear most often in school-aged children. Children with these disorders are inattentive, overly impulsive and, in the case of ADHD, hyperactive. They have difficulty sitting still, attending to one thing for a long period of time, and may seem overactive.

I had ADD and his statement is pretty accurate.

About the weather widget updates, what is the point? You said setting your weather to update hourly to preserve battery. But what if you want the weather right this second, you have to refresh the widget, which is the same as opening the weather app. It's pointless.

What the iPhone needs is something like SBSettings. I don't want it on the homescreen but an easy slide down menu where you can access the widgets/icons. Like the android notification bar! I absolutely love it. I dislike the double press home button because mine doesn't even work half the time. Or it opens on one click. Super annoying.

 

[BlindMellon]

LMAO! It's a live wallpaper called Seeds of Life where they swim around and the background color constantly changes lol.

kinda creepy....

 

[ChazUK]

Attention Deficit Disorder (also known as ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are terms used to describe patterns of behaviour that appear most often in school-aged children. Children with these disorders are inattentive, overly impulsive and, in the case of ADHD, hyperactive. They have difficulty sitting still, attending to one thing for a long period of time, and may seem overactive.

I had ADD and his statement is pretty accurate.

I understand what ADD is but I still don't see a consistent, credible link between a widget on a smartphone and someone suffering with the condition. People without the condition can still use widgets no? Couldn't the same thing be applied to the thousands of applications on Android Market and the App Store? And again with that specific post, we have the battery drain nonsense.

About the weather widget updates, what is the point? You said setting your weather to update hourly to preserve battery. But what if you want the weather right this second, you have to refresh the widget, which is the same as opening the weather app. It's pointless.

On the rare occasion I want to do that I'll tap the widget and hit refresh. On the many occasions I don't need it updated I'll leave it as is. Under those usage criteria it is hardly pointless is it? If you were the type of person who had to have it refreshed every time you unlocked your phone, you're covered by the settings menu (see screenshot below).

Some people really are underestimating how configurable some android widgets and applications are. (For info: This is not a stock Android feature but is supplied by LevelUp Studio's Beautiful widgets

3 pages of posts so far, allegations of poor implementation, battery drainage and pointlessness and not one single solid example of any of these reasons against widgets have been backed up. Why is this?

I do understand and acknowledge the personal taste issues where people simply do not like them and don't want them but that is simple, as long as they are not force fed onto users there isn't an issue.

Choice people, it's good to have!