Why doesn't iOS do Widgets

By evo_spook
in iPhone - iOS/tvOS/watchOS

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evo_spook

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Posted

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.

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/966102-why-doesnt-ios-do-widgets/
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~Johnny

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:06, JoSh X said:

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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jonnyH

Posted
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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.

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Shadrack

Posted
Posted

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.

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Ji@nBing

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:15, Shadrack said:

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.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:11, jonnyH said:

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:

  On 06/01/2011 at 00:16, Ji@nBing said:

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.

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jonnyH

Posted
Posted

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.

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Shadrack

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:22, jonnyH said:

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.

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Ji@nBing

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:18, Shadrack said:

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.
Grand Master

the evn show

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 00:26, Ji@nBing said:
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.

  Quote
You don't like custom themes?

No, not really.

  Quote
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.

  Quote
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.

  Quote
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.

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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.

Grand Master

mattmatik

Posted
Posted
  On 06/01/2011 at 05:34, Techno_Funky said:

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.)

Grand Master

Nick H. Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

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.

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