My 7 Favorite Android Widgets to Make Your Phone or Tablet More Useful

I’m going to start this article by saying that the choice of widgets is personal and what might be useful to me might not be useful to you. Still, there’s a widget for everyone, and depending on what apps you have installed on your Android device, you’ll probably find one or two in this article that will help make your day a little more efficient.

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So, what are widgets? Simply put, these are additions to your Android home screen that allow quick access to information from apps, the apps themselves, or the services you rely on. With the right collection of widgets, you can create an at-a-glance home screen that keeps you up to date without opening a single app.

I’ve gone through widgets for phones and tablets, and I’m sharing which ones I think will make your devices more useful.

Before we get to the list, let’s explore how to get started with widgets.

1. Google Calendar

Show entire month or day

I use Google Calendar daily and depend on it to keep my busy life a little less chaotic. Because I regularly check my Google Calendar, I find the widget very useful.

You can add a widget to display the entire month or a daily widget. From either widget, you can view events and even tap the + button to add an event to your calendar.

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One thing to keep in mind is that if you use multiple calendars on Gmail, you will need to add a widget for each. I prefer the daily view because it gives me an overview of my day at a glance, so I know exactly what’s coming.

2. Gmail (or your email app of choice)

I prefer Thunderbird

Adding the widget for your default email app (mine is Thunderbird) makes it easy to get a quick overview of what’s in your inbox and gives you easy access to the compose window. emails from the application.

For the Thunderbird widget, tap the pencil icon to automatically open Thunderbird’s compose window, where you can compose an email. I like this widget because I can more easily send a quick email without opening the email app.

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If you rely on email to stay connected and up to date, this widget should be considered a must-have.

3. Keep Notes

Write down information quickly

I use Keep Notes daily to quickly jot down information, share shopping lists, and more. I use some of my notes in Google Keep throughout my work day (some contain collections of important links).

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For quick access to these links, I added the Keep Notes widget. You can add two widgets: one that lets you scroll through your notes and one that gives you quick access to creating new notes (text, voice, and even images from your camera).

For this widget, I recommend adding the scroll widget on tablets and the quick access buttons widget on phones. I would go this route because your phone’s screen is much smaller than a tablet and you may not want to clutter it with too many larger widgets.

4. Arc search

Browse the Internet quickly

Arc Search is a great way to quickly search the Internet. Adding Arc Search as a widget provides similar functionality to the standard Google search bar, but automatically opens Arc Search instead of Chrome.

Also: Arc Search for Android is the Chrome replacement you’ve been looking for

Since I switched to Arc Search as the default app on Android, I prefer to use the Arc Search widget. If you prefer to move away from Google Search, I highly recommend installing Arc Search and adding the widget to your home screen.

5. Battery

Information on charge levels

Yes, there is a battery indicator at the top of your phone screen. However, the indicator does not provide any information about the charge levels of connected devices.

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I can add the battery widget to my home screen and get a quick overview of the charge levels of my Pixel Watch, smart headphones, and more. The Android Battery widget is a great addition if you need to know how much juice is left in your devices.

6. Pixel Weather

For Pixel phones only

The Android at-a-glance feature gives you the current temperature and you can tap it to open the weather app. However, its use is not always simple. It’s often unclear whether the Weather app or the Calendar app will open.

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To avoid this bit of confusion, I added the Pixel Weather widget. Yes, this is a Pixel-only feature, but it’s much better than trying to read the weather option’s fine print at a glance. When I’m not wearing my glasses, the Weather widget is always there to help me.

7. Spotify

Access your playlists

Spotify is my favorite music app on Android and desktop. The Spotify widget gives me quick access to what’s playing and my playlists.

Also: Spotify’s AI Playlist is now available in the US – here’s how to get it

Before a run, I can simply tap my Runlist playlist from the Spotify widget to automatically open Spotify, load that playlist, and hit the road. Then when something is played I can control it from the widget.

I realize that your needs will dictate which widgets you add. Whether or not you use any of the widgets above, I’m confident you’ll find a collection of Android widgets to help make your day a little easier.

How to add a widget to your Android device

This part is easy. All you have to do is long-press an empty spot on your home screen, tap Widgets, find the widget you want to add in the resulting window and drag it to your home screen. ‘welcome. You can then resize the widget and move it as needed.