when widgets are used wisely and in
moderation, they can be extremely helpful and give you a bunch of shortcuts and
information right at your fingertips. Here’s our list of best Android widgets
to make your device that bit smoother to use.
Evernote Widget
You can choose whether you want your
Evernote info displayed as a list, small widget or large widget.
With these widgets, you can instantly
create new notes, take screenshots and record audio notes directly from your
home screen. Using the large widget, you can also search your Evernote notes to
quickly find whatever you scribbled down. To use the widget, all you need is
the free Evernote app.
Battery HD
The app itself is great for monitoring
which apps are the biggest battery hogs and how quickly your phone battery
depletes, but you can also use battery-shaped widgets of varying sizes to see
the exact percentage of your battery that you have remaining. Tap the green
radioactive-looking widget to enter the app and dig into greater detail about
your battery usage.
Slider Widget – Volumes
Volumes can be deployed in four
different sizes and allow you to tweak the individual volumes of calls,
multimedia, system sounds, and so on. You can also control the screen
brightness and customize color selectors. This widget gives you a ton of
control in a tiny package and shouldn't take up a lot of space on most modern
5-inch-plus displays.
Torch – Tiny Flashlight
From simulating traffic lights to
emergency “flood” lights and even Morse code. At a festival or club and want
your friends to find you in the crowd? Raise your phone in the air and set
Flashlight to display a bright purple color (just agree beforehand with your
friends on what color you'll use). Tiny has a long list of uses, and is among
the most-used widgets on my device.
DashClock
At a glance, it lets you know if you
need to check anything out on your device or whether you can put it back down.
It's a similar look to the Android Lollipop lock-screen, so it may be of
particular interest to those still stuck on KitKat. Out of all the lock screen
notification widgets available on Android, DaskClock is probably the best.
Zooper Widget
The information that Zooper brings
with it can be displayed in a ton of different ways and the content options are
almost endless. This includes information about battery, time, device
temperature, calendar, data traffic, missed calls, and much more. It is
designed with efficiency in mind and helps provide information at your
fingertips on your home screen. Although this is the free version, there is a
premium version that removes ads and is compatible with Buzz Launcher.
1Weather
1Weather contains a plethora of
weather-based widgets, but Tabbed 1Weather is the best of the bunch. This shows
the time with well-designed icons, and provides enough information at your
fingertips that you rarely, if ever, need to even open the app to figure out
what’s going on with the weather around you. It does have a paid version that
removes ads and supports the developer.
