by Joe Rossignol
Starting with iOS 17, interactive widgets are now available on the iPhone across the Home Screen, Lock Screen, and the new StandBy mode. Apple gave some examples of what interactive widgets can be used for, including marking a reminder as completed, playing or pausing a song or podcast, and controlling accessories in the Home app, and there will be many more possibilities as third-party apps are updated with support.
Introduced with iOS 14, Home Screen widgets offered limited functionality until now, as Apple did not allow developers to include interactive elements, such as scrolling, buttons, or animated transitions. Home Screen widgets were only allowed to present read-only information, and tapping on a widget would simply open the corresponding app. Now, users will be able to interact with widgets directly for some actions.
Interactive widgets are also available on the iPad's Home Screen and Lock Screen with iPadOS 17, and on the Mac's desktop with macOS Sonoma. All of the software updates are currently available in beta and will be released to the public later this year.
We finally have interactive widgets in iOS 17! #WWDC23 pic.twitter.com/oIrlh3JWC7— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) June 5, 2023
Related Roundups: iOS 17, iPadOS 17
Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17
[ 46 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
Ghost31
10 months ago
It’s funny that there’s so much overlap between iOS and iPadOS that they had to save this for the iPadOS section to make it seem like iPad gets features
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️
10 months ago
Looks amazing but the only thing I’m worried about is the battery life. Hopefully, it doesn’t drain the battery life.
When the battery life drains fast it just makes the whole experience lame.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock
10 months ago
I just want them to allow me to shut off snap to grid! Let me put widgets and icons where I want! Such a simple feature that they refuse to implement.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleTO
10 months ago
Cool, but now we will have to wait yet another year for all the companies to updates their widgets to support this. Some have just finally released the new style widgets.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boyarka
10 months ago
Gee, mister. Interactive widgets? That's been on Android since like... when Noah built that ark.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
biracialfamily91
10 months ago
I can't wait to use in September. This is one of my most requested features. Now if they could add split screen multi-taking and theme packs, then I wouldn't complain about how slow Apple takes to bring in features that Android has had for years.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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