Widgets are even more interactive with iOS 17
Let's start with iOS 17,compatiblewith most iPhones already eligible for the previous version. So far, there hasn't been much to sink your teeth into other than the “intelligent batteries“, in terms of interactive widgets on the home screen. It's now ancient history. Indeed, with the update presented at WWDC, third-party developers all have the opportunity to equip their apps with the same benefits.
For now, however, the number of platforms affected is limited. Among the new interactive widgets on iPhone, we find in particular:
- Apple Music, with playback controls
- Reminders, to check off your to-do list without opening the app
- Home, to control connected objects (in order, for example, to turn on a light bulb remotely)
- Apple Podcasts, to start or pause a show
- …and many other new features to come
© Apple
Widgets on the lock screen
With iPadOS 17, tablets also welcome widgets but this time on the locked screen. A customization option already available on iOS 16 since last year.
For large screens, it is now possible to display on the locked screen theLive Activitiessuch as the score of a match in progress, the status of an order placed with a FoodTech platform such as Uber Eats, the progress of a timer triggered in advance and a shortcut to pause it or even information from your flight during a plane trip.
But that's not all, since the weather, the iPad battery level, calendar events, reminders, the autonomy of the Apple Pencil or even the date and time according to time zones of your choice are also available here.
© Apple
Interactive widgets also on the home screen
As iPadOS 17 is based on the same source code as iOS 17, there was already a good chance that most of the improvements of the two software would be common. This is the case for the interactive widgets mentioned above, now also available on tablets.
On macOS Sonoma, widgets move
Let's finish with macOS widgets. Previously, these were confined toControl centerinstalled in the right side panel of the interface. But now it is possible to move them directly to the desktop, with a simple gesture ofdrag/dropwith the mouse. Twenty years after Windows, it was time. The video below offers you a very attractive demonstration of the possibilities offered by this new feature, signed by Craig Federighi.
Of course, as you might have guessed, macOS Sonoma's widgets are becoming more interactive too. Publishers can offer several sizes, like on iOS.
Among the widgets already available on macOS Sonoma, we can notably cite:
- the Photo gallery
- Weather report
- the world clock
- Calendar
- Notes
- Apple Plans
- Apollo (client Reddit)
- Locate
- HiCoffee (to track your daily caffeine consumption)
- Apple Music
- autonomy indicators of other devices in the Apple ecosystem connected to the same iCloud account
- Reminders
- Shortcuts
- other widgets from third-party apps, such as that of the car manufacturer Lucid which offers to start the air conditioning remotely
Some welcome features should also be noted here, such as the possibility ofadd widgets already present on the iPhone to the Mac, even if the associated app is only installed on the mobileand not on the computer (!), thanks toContinuity. The smartphone will still need to be close and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the Mac.
As a bonus, the background of widgets becomes transparent to avoid distractions when opening an app when the app window is not displayed in full screen. Clever.
i-nfo.fr - Official iPhon.fr app
By : Keleops AG
