My 7 favorite Android widgets to make your phone or tablet more useful

Let me preface this article by saying that widget selection is personal, and what may work for me may not work for you. Still, there are widgets that everyone can use. Depending on the apps you have installed on your Android device, you might find one or two in this article that can help make your day a little more efficient.

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So what are widgets? Simply put, they are added to your Android home screen and give you quick access to information from apps, the app itself, or the services it relies 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 looked into widgets on my phone and tablet. Share widgets that you think will make your device even more useful.

Before we get into the list, let’s take a look at how to start using widgets.

1.Google Calendar

Display the entire month or day

I use Google Calendar every day and rely on it to make my busy life a little less chaotic. I regularly check my Google Calendar, so I find this widget very useful.

You can add widgets to display the entire month or daily widgets. You can view events from either widget or add them to your calendar by tapping the + button.

Also: Updates to Google Calendar for Android make tracking tasks super easy

One thing to note is that if you use multiple calendars in Gmail, you’ll need to add widgets to each one. I like the daytime view because it lets me see at a glance what the day is like so I know exactly what’s going to happen.

2. Gmail (or your email app of choice)

I prefer Thunderbird

Adding a widget to your default email app (Thunderbird in my case) makes it easy to see what’s in your inbox and give you easy access to the app’s email compose window.

For the Thunderbird widget, tapping the pencil icon automatically opens the Thunderbird compose window where you can compose your email. I like this widget because it makes it easy to send emails without opening your email app.

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If you rely on email to stay connected and updated, consider this widget a must-have.

3. Take notes

write down information quickly

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

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We’ve added a Keep Notes widget to give you quick access to these links. You can add two widgets. One is a widget that lets you scroll through your notes, and the other is a widget that gives you quick access to creating new notes (text, audio, and even images from your camera).

For this widget, we recommend adding the scroll-through widget on tablets and the quick access button widget on mobile phones. I go that route because phone screens are much smaller than tablets, so you might not want to line up a bunch of big 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 functionality similar to the standard Google search bar, but it opens automatically instead of Chrome.

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

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

5. Battery

Charge level considerations

Yes, there is a battery indicator at the top of your phone’s display. However, this indicator does not provide information about the charge level of the connected device.

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Add the battery widget to your home screen to quickly see the charge level of your Pixel Watch, connected headphones, and more. The Android Battery Widget is a great addition if you need to know how much battery life is left on your device.

6. Pixel weather

Pixel smartphones only

Android’s at-a-glance feature shows you the current temperature, which you can tap to open the weather app. However, it is not always easy to use. It’s often a question of whether to open the weather app or the calendar app.

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To avoid such confusion, we added a pixel weather widget. Yes, this is a Pixel-only feature, but it’s much better than reading the small print on the weather options at a glance. The weather widget is always there to help you when you’re not wearing your glasses.

7. Spotify

Access playlists

Spotify is my favorite music app on Android and desktop. The Spotify widget gives you quick access to currently playing songs and playlists.

Related article: Spotify’s AI playlists are now available in the US – here’s how to get them

Before your run, just tap the Runlist playlist from your Spotify widget to automatically open Spotify, load that playlist, and hit the road. That way you can control from the widget when something plays.

I think the widgets you add will depend on your needs. Whether you use any of the above widgets or not, we’re sure you’ll find a collection of Android widgets that will make your daily tasks a little easier.

How to add widgets to your Android device

This part is easy. Simply touch and hold an empty space on your home screen, tap Widgets, find the widget you want to add in the window that appears, and drag it to your home screen. You can then resize and move the widget as needed.