Many may have heard of them, but a lot of people don’t know how to use iPhone widgets.
In this post we will talk about what they are, what they are useful for, and how to use them.
What exactly is a Widget?
Widgets are small graphical interface units that are attached to apps so that you can display the contents of the app without opening it. For example, a widget of your weather app will show the day’s forecast without requiring you to open the app. If you tap on the widget, the app will open.
One of biggest selling points when it comes to using them is that you do not need to initially open the application in order to perform the widgets function, or receive useful information.
Some basic examples of useful widgets:
- A weather widget that can display the temperature and forecast for your location
- A calendar widget that can show upcoming appointments.
- A map widget that shows traffic in your area
- A financial widget that shows market fluctuations or stock prices
- A Battery widget that shows the device’s charge percentage
- A Find My widget that displays item locations
The iPhone allows users to “stack” widgets. This allows users to add and scroll through multiple widgets in the same location on the home screen.
How to use access and use them?
On the iPhone you can access the available widgets by swiping left until you reach the furthest possible screen.
There you will find an edit button. Tap on edit and you will find a + sign in the top left. You can also just hold any empty space to get the top left arrow to display.
The far left screen is intended to be a place where you can pile on widget after widget and have a page entirely dedicated to widgets.
While this is fine to do, you can also add widgets to your home screen for easier access when you open your phone. As displayed in the top images.
You can also drag them over to the other screens from the far left widget screen, the same as you would when moving normal app icons around.
Dozens of apps offer widgets from both Apple and Third parties.
When adding them, you will find a list as you scroll down that will show all of the different apps that offer them.
When an app is selected, it will then offer the ability to scroll left and right between all the different types.
Some are larger than others and will take up more of your screen if chosen.
For more information check out Apple’s Support Page.
If you have questions about how to use iPhone widgets, or our services in general, just call or email. We’re happy to assist you! Feel free to use our contact form to send us a message. Thank you!