How to make an app a widget on iPhone & Android? Build a Widgets

Here are the easy steps to build an app a widget on iPhone and Android:

On Android

Find a Home Screen that has space for the app for which you want to create a shortcut
Touch & hold the screen
Select Add to Home Screen
Select Apps
Choose the app you want to add to the Home Screen

On iPhone

Swipe to the right on your Home or Lock screen, or pull down your Notification Center to view the widgets
Scroll down to the bottom of your widget list
Tap “Edit”
Scroll down, find the widget you want to add & tap the green “+”
Tap “Done”

App Widgets are miniature app views that can be embedded in other applications and receive regular updates. Widgets provide you with quick information without opening an app. Now that you know how to make an app a widget and you are sure on creating one, you should decide what kind of widget you’re going to build.

Types of Android widgets

Information Widget

Here you need to display some information related to your app.

Control Widget

A control widget helps to display the most commonly used functions that users can trigger from their home screens.

Collection widgets

This type of widget allows multiple elements of the same type.

Hybrid widgets

Hybrid widget is like a control widget but also offers elements of Information widget.

After you have learned how to make an app a widget it is important to know what widgets do.

What should a widget do?

The widget that contains excessive information will not benefit the user. This information will overload it and will make it confusing. Also, the widget that doesn’t display proper data and information, will likely end up not being used at all. A widget on both platforms should take care of the following aspects:

Ensure content is updated
Be sure that content responds aptly to users
Performs well

Why are Widgets important?

The use of widgets is becoming popular in the era of social media. Widgets are miniature applications embedded in other apps on your device. They are very important as they help to connect with users. You can virtually adjust every aspect related to its appearance. The usage of widgets can be optimized to work as an asset for the users. Keep the widget configuration light and don't try to bring in a lot of information. For example a weather app widget displays temperature and an icon summarizing the day’s forecast and calendar app displays the date. Custom Widgets help you create your own widgets from scratch. A user can move widgets across their device home screen and resize them. Widgets are responsible to attract a user to the app. Widget are highly important for an app user as: