The Great 12 of 2012: Android Widgets (page 1)
Smartphone applications are awesome, but with all due respect to them I do have to admit that sometimes I just can’t be bothered opening up a new program just to get some quick info or complete a small task. That’s where widgets come in handy, and the Android system has so many to choose from, bringing the functionality of the apps they belong to right to the phones home screen, or one the screens. Not all of them are awesome though, some are just glorified app launchers, where you would click on something that looks like a widget but is basically just a link to the actual app. Some others are ugly and you wouldn’t want to clutter up your home screen with things of the sort, your Android needs to look nice right? Here are the 12 best widgets that no true Android user should do without.
Beautiful Widgets
What is Beautiful Widgets? This bundle-pack of widgets is pretty much a bit of everything, providing you the weather, time, date and battery life in various sizes.
What makes it good and why should I get it? Bets are on that your phone has weather and clock widgets already but Beautiful Widgets is more flexible when it comes to screen space usage, and who are we kidding it looks good, especially the battery indicator, that one’s quite pretty. [$2.89]
Extended Controls
What is Extended Controls? Say goodbye to going through the Android Settings menu. Extended Control allows you to do all of the most frequently executed, common things, along with some other uncommon ones. The best part is that you do it all directly from the home screen.
What makes it good and why should I get it? Even though most Android smartphones now have almost similar settings widgets built-in, Extended Controls includes a multitude of toggles, such as 4G, orientation lock and USB storage. It also lets you squeeze in heaps of other toggles into two choices of size: a 4-by-1 or 2-by1 widget. [$0.99]
3G Watchdog
What is 3D Watchdog? From when your billing cycle starts, 3G Watchdog notifies you on how much data you’ve consumed; it also has the function of shutting down before you hit any overcharge limits.
What makes it good and why should I get it? Pretty much all data plans are limited these days, so having a constant reminder that will keep you on this side of your data package limit is extremely useful – the best part is knowing that you have a ton of MBs left at the end of the month, which you can go wild with! [Free]
TweetDeck
What is TweetDeck? TweetDeck’s widget comes in a few sweet flavors. The “bar” and “column” widgets show you whether you’ve got any new updates, messages or mentions, and lets you jump directly to that section of the app straight from your home screen. The “post” widget is my favorite, it lets you post an update directly from the phone’s home screen. Quite the nifty one.
What makes it good and why should I get it?
The “post” aspect of the widget works perfectly with both Facebook and Twitter, so you can have one widget that posts to either (or both instantaneously). It’s useful for posting even if you use other Facebook or Twitter apps, and with a bit of use you’ll find that it trumps them speed-wise. [Free]
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