People are already loving putting widgets on their iPhone Home screens
What you need to know
- Apple announced iOS 14 during its WWDC opening keynote yesterday.
- It lets users add widgets to their iPhone's Home screen for the first time.
- People are taking to Twitter to show their new, functional, widget-laden Home screens.
When Apple announced yesterday that iOS 14 would finally, #finally let users put widgets on their iPhone's Home screen you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Twitter lit up and we all beamed from ear to ear. But who wants to wait until September to try out the brave new widget world? Nobody, so people are installing the developer beta right now.
And they're sharing their Home screen creations with the world. So far, it looks pretty great.
It's important to remember that developers haven't yet had a chance to update their own apps to take advantage of the new feature. As a result, people with iOS 14 installed can only take advantage of Apple's apps and widgets. But just wait until developers start getting updates out the door later this year. It's going to pop off, big time!
Check out some of the Home screens spotted on Twitter in the last 12 hours or so.
https://twitter.com/itsmichaelwest/status/1275202292925501441
It's like an Apple ad, isn't it?
Took a while but finally on the iOS 14 beta pic.twitter.com/PCk1HnXYZoTook a while but finally on the iOS 14 beta pic.twitter.com/PCk1HnXYZo— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) June 23, 2020June 23, 2020
Really, who doesn't love Lady Gaga?
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#iOS14 first beta version is surprisingly smooth 🤣 pic.twitter.com/rXbn8WnoPb#iOS14 first beta version is surprisingly smooth 🤣 pic.twitter.com/rXbn8WnoPb— Manu (@manhoelito) June 23, 2020June 23, 2020
It's a bit busy for me, but you do you!
Home Screen Widgets and the App Library are the biggest UI changes to the iPhone since the iPhone X. Eventually both of these things may replace the app grid. pic.twitter.com/en7Lz6kr7UHome Screen Widgets and the App Library are the biggest UI changes to the iPhone since the iPhone X. Eventually both of these things may replace the app grid. pic.twitter.com/en7Lz6kr7U— Michael Kukielka (@DetroitBORG) June 22, 2020June 22, 2020
Michael might have a point.
Not sure I’ll stick with them, but I’m trying out a widget-based home screen. History indicates I’ll only keep one of these at most, but I’m really happy to have more options here. pic.twitter.com/FzwWaIHNoyNot sure I’ll stick with them, but I’m trying out a widget-based home screen. History indicates I’ll only keep one of these at most, but I’m really happy to have more options here. pic.twitter.com/FzwWaIHNoy— Matt Birchler (@mattbirchler) June 22, 2020June 22, 2020
Have you seen any creative uses of widgets? Hit me up in the comments with some links!
Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.