Why doesn't iOS do Widgets

[evo_spook]

Why hasn't iOS yet copied Android and introduced widgets, a selection of apps that stay open on the home page and can click through to the app icons somehow

is it to do with Battery life or something? Its not like they new to Apple, OSX has had them for years.

I'm sure they could come up with a good way of theming them plus it would give the store another way to make money from selling Widgets.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

The Apple gods decided widgets weren't good enough

[Rudy]

Widgets are overrated

[Ji@nBing]

Agreed, but FYI there are some Widgets (though limited in selection) if you Jailbreak. It would be nice to see some official support though. iOS needs an update badly. The grid of icons has gotten really tired.

[~Johnny]

See, thats where you re mistaken. Apple isn't in the business to make money. They want to give us the best digital experience ever at the lowest price possible! :sleep:

o__O

The internet really does need sarcasm indicators... at least I hope this is sarcasm :p

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[iKenndac]

I guess they haven't figured out a way to do it well. I'd love a couple of widgets on my lock screen with email and SMS counts, maybe a little weather thing and a calendar, but not if they're slow, crappy, and drain my battery!

[jonnyH]

if a widget is done well then yes very useful, but from my experience with android widgets they either tried to put too much info on them or no info what ever making them a glorified icon.

To many useless widgets out their, iOS can appear quite featureless at times but when apple try to add features they usualy do it badly, multitasking for example.

[Shadrack]

I'm sure many iOS programmers/designers have discussed in many meetings adding widgets to iOS. I wouldn't be surprised if they add it this year or next. Historically, Apple has always added things in small doses. A feature here and there in each OS. Multitasking ("Multitasking" <-- if that makes you feel better) was just added last year which was needed before something like Widgets can be implemented properly.

It does seem silly to have to open my Mail App to even see what the subject headers are, then I open Facebook to see latest friends update, and then I open my Twitter to see whats new there...etc, etc. Especially after seeing the slickness of WP7.

Best thing I've seen was LockInfo if you JB your iPhone... But I don't like having my iPhone JB.

[Ji@nBing]

I'm sure many iOS programmers/designers have discussed in many meetings adding widgets to iOS. I wouldn't be surprised if they add it this year or next. Historically, Apple has always added things in small doses. A feature here and there in each OS. Multitasking ("Multitasking" <-- if that makes you feel better) was just added last year which was needed before something like Widgets can be implemented properly.

It does seem silly to have to open my Mail App to even see what the subject headers are, then I open Facebook to see latest friends update, and then I open my Twitter to see whats new there...etc, etc. Especially after seeing the slickness of WP7.

Best thing I've seen was LockInfo if you JB your iPhone... But I don't like having my iPhone JB.

Why would you not have your iPhone JB?!?!? That's just insanity to me :p. I wouldn't even want and iPhone if it wasn't JB. Stock it's a POS.

[Shadrack]

if a widget is done well then yes very useful, but from my experience with android widgets they either tried to put too much info on them or no info what ever making them a glorified icon.

To many useless widgets out their, iOS can appear quite featureless at times but when apple try to add features they usualy do it badly, multitasking for example.

Are you kidding me? Apple did a brilliant job with their multitasking support. How do I know this, for sure? Because many a friend who own an Android handset bitch-and-moan about their battery life. Meanwhile I'm running on a charge from 2 days ago... :laugh:

But everyone is entitled to their opinion... :sleep:

Why would you not have your iPhone JB?!?!? That's just insanity to me :p. I wouldn't even want and iPhone if it wasn't JB. Stock it's a POS.

I've had it JB before. I tried a bunch of stuff out, and the only thing I really like is the free WiFi tethering with MyFi app. Everything else just doesn't seem worth the hassle each time a new update is released.

[brominated]

I'd much rather have the notification system from WebOS than widgets scattered about everywhere.

[jonnyH]

the multitasking was deffinatly better than Android dont get me wrong, the multitasking use to kill my HTC Hero. From my experience on the 3gs when i had one i just didnt think the multitasking was that brilliant, deffinate effect on performance and with each os update the phone seemed to get sloppier. but thats just me, each to their own.

[Stetson]

If they do it, I think they should follow closer to Windows Phone 7 than Android. Let the widgets be something supplied by the full app, and let the user decide whether they want to use a plain app icon or if they want to allow the app to provide a widget.

[Shadrack]

the multitasking was deffinatly better than Android dont get me wrong, the multitasking use to kill my HTC Hero. From my experience on the 3gs when i had one i just didnt think the multitasking was that brilliant, deffinate effect on performance and with each os update the phone seemed to get sloppier. but thats just me, each to their own.

Ahh, I see. To be fair, i haven't used iOS 4 on 3gs, only iPhone 4. I've heard from many people that it really wasn't that it was crap on 3gs and ate battery.

[Ji@nBing]

I've had it JB before. I tried a bunch of stuff out, and the only thing I really like is the free WiFi tethering with MyFi app. Everything else just doesn't seem worth the hassle each time a new update is released.

Really? You don't like lockscreen info? You don't like custom themes? You're happy to be able to put only 12 icons per folder? You don't like being able to quick reply to an SMS right in the pop up notification without having to open the entire SMS application? What about being able to clear memory before playing a game so it runs better? I could go on and on and on, but there are a ton of tweaks available that make the iPhone sooooo much better. If it wasn't for JB, I wouldn't own and iPhone. Android and WP7 are much better OOTB.

[Techno_Funky]

No please leave iDevices out of the widget frenzy, to me IMO they are a fad they fade away within a few days.

[the evn show]

Really? You don't like lockscreen info?

I need to know what time it is, if I've missed some calls, and if I've got a text message waiting, and to access 'media playback' controls if it's just being a fancy ipod. I don't particularly need to see what the whether next-week is going to be, what movies are playing, or what CNN's latest headline is. In fact, I kinda like not having all of that force fed to me.

You don't like custom themes?

No, not really.

You're happy to be able to put only 12 icons per folder?

6 has served me well so far - I didn't know there was a limit.

You don't like being able to quick reply to an SMS right in the pop up notification without having to open the entire SMS application?

Doesn't bother me at all. 9/10 times My friends write

Text messages

Spread over three or four

different messages

God knows why they do it, but they do. Launching the messages app is wait-free, and often times I don't even want to reply at all.

What about being able to clear memory before playing a game so it runs better?

That sounds like my own personal hell. That kind of nonsense was garbage in the mid 90s when I was doing it on classic Mac OS, I sure as hell don't want to time warp back to that nonsense.

Not that I'm much of a gamer, but I don't think I've ever noticed an iPhone game performing more poorly at one time than another - I'm happy to leave that sort of thing up to the OS because it does a fine job most of the time.

I could go on and on and on, but there are a ton of tweaks available that make the iPhone sooooo much better.

Those are all the things I like not worrying about. For the majority of iPhone owners that sort of thing wouldn't make it better the way (for example) an easier way to get photos onto flicker or facebook does, or a way to upload video to youtube from their phone does, or the way some more levels in angry birds does.

[mattmatik]

No please leave iDevices out of the widget frenzy, to me IMO they are a fad they fade away within a few days.

Agreed.

Also, why do people insist on pressuring people to JB? Look, the guy said he tried it and didn't like it (same with me), why do you need to reply to that. I think people understand the "benefit" of JB but choose not to. What's the big deal?

(Just the thought of having some memory manager app makes me shudder. I had enough of that crap on my Palm Treo and BlackJack. Absolute waste of time for the end-user.)

[acnpt]

One of the two things I miss from Android, Widgets and the notifications.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

To the people saying that they don't want widgets, the addition of widgets wouldn't affect you at all would it? I mean, if you didn't want them then you wouldn't have to add them. The same mentality applies to Android, people don't have to add widgets.

I must admit, widgets was one of the selling points for me getting an Android phone. Not the selling point, but certainly one of them.

[Digitalx]

apple wants you to open your app to view the content and nothing else so they can say this app has been used 6,000,000,000 times, amazing, incredible, revolutionary!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

A unified notifications system would be a very nice addition (for the desktop OS as well), but widgets I can do without (On my Android phone I've only added a date/weather widget, and a music controller widget)

[instant.human]

I never liked widgets. But having them there wouldn't affect me that much either - I would just disable them, like I did on my MotoDroid.

Other than that - I completely agree with +evn. On every single effin point...

[iuerg87yerg879e0rg9erugjer]

widgets on any iOS wont be any helpful to me personally, i dont even use the ones on my mac so there is not point having it on my iPad or iPhone.

[mudslag]

You can create your own widgets, there are some ready made ones for jailbroken devices and you can customize them for your needs.

Something Im still working on. Iv gotten the pic in at top to change to every time the lockscreen pops back up.