by Al Sacco

16 Android Widgets to Make Your Smartphone and Tablet Better

Feature
Jan 15, 201511 mins
AndroidMobile AppsSmartphones

If you're not using widgets, you're simply not realizing the true value of your Android smartphone or tablet. CIO.com's Al Sacco shares a collection of his favorite widgets, all free and all very much worth a download.

Must-Have Android Widgets

One of the best things about the Android OS is its support for widgets, or live application windows that sit on your Android device’s home screen. They both display information and give you access to features so you don’t have to open their associated apps. Apple added widget functionality to its Notification Center Today screen in iOS 8, and BlackBerry 10 has Active Frames that update, but these options are second-rate compared to Android widgets.

Every Android app doesn’t have a widget, and some offer widgets that don’t work well — I call those “weak widgets.” The following Android widgets deserve space on your home screen. And if these aren’t enough, read “Must-Have Android Widgets for Your Smartphone and Tablet,” and “Best Android Widgets: 19 Apps With a Personal Touch.”

(Note: All of the these Android widgets were tested on both a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone and Google Nexus 9 tablet, but they may not be compatible with every Android device.)

Evernote Widget for Android

04 evernote android widgets

You’re probably familiar with the popular Evernote writing and note-taking app, which syncs across your various devices. You may not, however, know there’s a separate, free Evernote Widget app that lets you bring the specific Evernote features you use the most right to your home screen. The app offers four different types of widgets, in different sizes, and they’re all customizable. You can create single widgets to quickly open new notes, capture images, record audio, set quick reminders and save speech-to-text notes, among other things. The app also offers more full-featured widgets that include a variety of options in a single widget. The app is a must for all Evernote users with Android devices.

Download Evernote Widget for free from Google Play.

[Related Slide Show: Must-Have Android Widgets for Your Smartphone and Tablet]

Days Left Android Widget

05 days left android widget

We’re all looking forward to something, whether it’s a birthday, a holiday, a vacation, the return of a loved one, or in my case, 2015 Opening Day for the Boston Red Sox. (April 6 can’t get here soon enough.) The simple, free Days Left Widget is a countdown calendar for your Android home screen. It does exactly what you’d expect: display the number of days until your anticipated event. You can add as many calendar widgets as you want. You can customize them with specific colors, icons and text. And the widgets are available in three different sizes. Days Left isn’t the only widget of its kind, but it is one of the simpler versions — and it just works.

Download the Days Left Widget for free from Google Play.