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Widget Defined

Widgets are the name of an interactive app function available on Android and iPhone 14+ devices that allow users to view information and interact with apps via small modules on their home screen.

Android has always offered widgets on their devices, whereas iOS widgets were introduced in 2020 with the release of iOS 14+. The look and size of widgets differ between devices, but their purpose is the same across both operating systems: to provide a way to view information at a glance from the Home Screen.

How to Use it in a Sentence

iPhone and Android users can customize the app widgets that are accessible via their home screen.

Common FAQs

Similar to Apple's Dynamic Island feature, Live Activities uses Apple's WidgetKit functionality to display live data, but they aren't widgets themselves. One fundamental difference is that Live Activities are associated with push notifications, and widgets are not. A Live Activity can be started and updated directly from an app using ActivityKit or with ActivityKit push notifications. Live Activities can also live exclusively on the Lock Screen, and can only last up to eight hours, whereas widgets are permanent fixtures on the Home Screen.

Live Activities are intended to display changing data for live events such as sports scores, delivery statuses, and other real-time transactional updates. In contrast, Widgets aren't necessarily associated with a particular live event. Although they are implemented similarly, widgets are permanent features that require less lifecycle management. Whereas widgets have been available since 2020 with the release of iOS 14+, Live Activities functionality was introduced in 2022 with iOS 16+.

Widgets make it easy to display information to users in an efficient and accessible way, without opening an app. Their design makes it easy to view information like weather, time, fitness progress, etc. at a glance without navigating away from a current task.

Android has always offered widgets on their devices, whereas iOS widgets were introduced in 2020 with the release of iOS 14+. The look and size of widgets differ between devices, but their purpose is the same across both operating systems: to provide a way to view information at a glance from the Home Screen.

Aesthetically, iOS widgets appear as a bigger square or rectangular box, and Android widgets tend to be smaller and take up less space on the screen. On both devices, users can customize and interact with the widgets and trigger actions via those interactions. On iPhone, users can create a widget stack that they can scroll through to keep more widgets available on one screen without overwhelming the screen space.

One current difference is that Apple only allows iOS widgets to be added to an iOS device, whereas Android allows all third-party apps to be added as widgets.

Yes! Because Live Activities are associated with push notifications, they're supported in our suite of messaging and engagement tools. Learn more about how to add Live Activities to your iOS app.