11 essential widgets for your Android home screen

This article has been updated. Originally published on February 4, 2020.

When browsing your phone screen, you are most likely to see that each app is just a small icon. But some apps allow you to replace the icon with a widget—a larger image that sometimes allows you to access it without opening the app. Not only can the gadget enhance the beauty of the home screen, it can also provide some useful features. For example, the weather app can show the latest temperature of the day on your home screen, the music player can let you skip songs or pause playback, and the memo app can show important notes.

While Apple has recently added gadgets to iOS, Android's gadgets are still more flexible and versatile, so users can continue to make their iPhone user friends envious.

1Weather

While many weather apps offer Android gadgets, 1Weather stands out for its stylish look, detailed readings and a host of customization options. You can specify which information you want to view to meet your forecast needs and choose a variety of layouts for this data.

1Weather offers free advertising, or $2 ad-free version.

[Related: The Best Weather Apps You Can Install to Your Phone]

Battery HD

There is almost nothing on a phone that is more important than battery life. Pay close attention to it with this widget, which provides a more detailed view than the icons in the status bar. Click the widget to open the app, which provides more information about the current status of the battery.

Battery HD is available for free.

Battery Widget Reborn

If the customization options for Battery HD are not enough to suit your needs, check out Battery Widget Reborn. It also displays additional information about battery power, but provides more options for specifying the display image size and color. It's more than just a nice picture: this gadget also estimates how long your device can last while it's currently charged and offers its own power saving mode for extended battery life.

Battery Widget Reborn offers free advertising, or $5 ad-free version.

Countdown Days

If you are the kind of person who can’t wait for the great moments, let Countdown Days time you. This simple and straightforward applet has a companion widget that offers a variety of colors to choose from and will be automatically updated as each day passes.

Countdown Days offers free advertising, or $1 ad-free version.

Elixir 2

Elixir 2 can put it in a widget no matter what information you want to view about your device on the home screen. Customize the display with battery status, available storage space, processor and memory load, network connection strength, running applications, integrated sensors, display properties, or any combination of these data.

Elixir 2 is available for free.

Evernote

Evernote is undoubtedly the best note-taking and project-organizing application on Android or any other platform. Its gadget selection enhances its appeal: they give you quick access to your existing digital notebooks and allow you to create new notebooks at any time.

Evernote is available for free, or starts at $35 per year.

Google Calendar

Always be able to view the calendar on the home screen can make a huge impact when you need to remember birthdays, anniversary, important meetings, public holidays, and other events. Google Calendar’s widget lets you do this, with the option of viewing the entire month on the screen, showing the agenda, or both.

Google Calendar is available for free.

Google Keep

The Google simple but efficient note-taking app comes with a beautifully styled gadget. It can show you thumbnails of your recent notes, or – if you classify digital reminders – it can show thumbnails of notes in a specific category. You will also get a shortcut to create new reminders at any time.

Google Keep is available for free.

Google Maps Directions

This Google Maps widget is one of the most beautiful gadgets and definitely one of the most useful ones. Once the widget is placed, it prompts you for a single address (it is better to choose a frequently visited address, such as your home). Then, each time the icon is clicked, it calls out the instant route to that preset location.

Google Maps is available for free.

Spotify

Controll Spotify with the simple play, pause and skip buttons of this widget. They help you adjust your favorite music immediately without having to open the app every time. The widget also displays the title and artist of the current song, as well as a small thumbnail of the album cover.

Spotify is available for free. Paid subscriptions are available for ad-free versions for $10 per month.

[Related: Why Spotify’s music recommendations are always so accurate]

Netflix

Don't waste time searching around the Netflix app when you can quickly launch Netflix from your home screen. Depending on the size of your choice, you can jump back to the show you just watched, view any new content promoted by Netflix, or both.

Netflix is ​​available for free with your Netflix subscription.

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