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% How iPadOS 15 Widgets Could Change How You Use the iPad GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Opinion News &gt; Computers <h1> How iPadOS 15 Widgets Could Change How You Use the iPad</h1> <h2> Anything is better than the &#34;big iPhone&#34; home screen</h2> By Charlie Sorrel Charlie Sorrel Senior Tech Reporter Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for 13 years.
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% How iPadOS 15 Widgets Could Change How You Use the iPad GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Opinion News > Computers

How iPadOS 15 Widgets Could Change How You Use the iPad

Anything is better than the "big iPhone" home screen

By Charlie Sorrel Charlie Sorrel Senior Tech Reporter Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for 13 years.
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Elijah Patel 1 minutes ago
lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 18, 2021 11:33AM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact...
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Isabella Johnson 2 minutes ago
Dennis Brendel / Unsplash iPad widgets in iPadOS 14 are an afterthought, literally tacked onto the s...
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lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 18, 2021 11:33AM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Computers Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming <h3> Key Takeaways</h3> iPadOS 15 could bring big changes to the iPad.Right now, iPad widgets cannot be added to the home screen—they have their own special area.Interactive iPad widgets also could work on the Mac.
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lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 18, 2021 11:33AM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Computers Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming

Key Takeaways

iPadOS 15 could bring big changes to the iPad.Right now, iPad widgets cannot be added to the home screen—they have their own special area.Interactive iPad widgets also could work on the Mac.
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Victoria Lopez 2 minutes ago
Dennis Brendel / Unsplash iPad widgets in iPadOS 14 are an afterthought, literally tacked onto the s...
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Dennis Brendel / Unsplash iPad widgets in iPadOS 14 are an afterthought, literally tacked onto the side of the home screen. This year’s iPadOS 15 could revolutionize the iPad. Last year, the iPhone got widgets, panels that let you put mini apps and information right on the home screen.
Noah Davis Member
access_time 12 minutes ago
Dennis Brendel / Unsplash iPad widgets in iPadOS 14 are an afterthought, literally tacked onto the side of the home screen. This year’s iPadOS 15 could revolutionize the iPad. Last year, the iPhone got widgets, panels that let you put mini apps and information right on the home screen.
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Ava White 4 minutes ago
You can check the weather, play a specific album, or see your to-do list, without opening an app. Th...
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Audrey Mueller 5 minutes ago
"I think the current iOS home screen does need to undergo some big changes," Rex Freiberger, CEO of ...
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You can check the weather, play a specific album, or see your to-do list, without opening an app. The iPad got these widgets, too, but they’re just iPhone widgets, and they’re hidden off-screen, over in that Today View on the left. It’s a shame, because widgets could bring so much more to the iPad’s big screen.
Harper Kim Member
access_time 8 minutes ago
You can check the weather, play a specific album, or see your to-do list, without opening an app. The iPad got these widgets, too, but they’re just iPhone widgets, and they’re hidden off-screen, over in that Today View on the left. It’s a shame, because widgets could bring so much more to the iPad’s big screen.
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Thomas Anderson 4 minutes ago
"I think the current iOS home screen does need to undergo some big changes," Rex Freiberger, CEO of ...
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Zoe Mueller 3 minutes ago
Icons on the iPad are further apart than on the iPhone, and the spacing changes, not only between iP...
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"I think the current iOS home screen does need to undergo some big changes," Rex Freiberger, CEO of Gadget Review, told Lifewire via email. "It needs to be streamlined and allow for user customization of layout to truly get the most out of widgets." <h2> It s a Big iPhone </h2> There’s one big argument against proper iPhone-style widgets working on the iPad: the icon spacing is all wrong.
Sebastian Silva Member
access_time 25 minutes ago
"I think the current iOS home screen does need to undergo some big changes," Rex Freiberger, CEO of Gadget Review, told Lifewire via email. "It needs to be streamlined and allow for user customization of layout to truly get the most out of widgets."

It s a Big iPhone

There’s one big argument against proper iPhone-style widgets working on the iPad: the icon spacing is all wrong.
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Mia Anderson 23 minutes ago
Icons on the iPad are further apart than on the iPhone, and the spacing changes, not only between iP...
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Icons on the iPad are further apart than on the iPhone, and the spacing changes, not only between iPad models, but on the same device, whenever you switch between portrait and landscape orientation. "Widgets on the iPad have been something of a rough experience, depending on the widget and its overall use," cellphone retailer Josh Wright told Lifewire via email.
Scarlett Brown Member
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Icons on the iPad are further apart than on the iPhone, and the spacing changes, not only between iPad models, but on the same device, whenever you switch between portrait and landscape orientation. "Widgets on the iPad have been something of a rough experience, depending on the widget and its overall use," cellphone retailer Josh Wright told Lifewire via email.
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Sophie Martin 1 minutes ago
"Hopefully, they do optimize to better adapt to the larger screen, as some seem to be developed with...
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Alexander Wang 4 minutes ago
The iPad is still essentially a big iPhone. If its grid of widely spaced app icons were downtown rea...
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"Hopefully, they do optimize to better adapt to the larger screen, as some seem to be developed with the iPhone as their optimal experience." But that shows a lack of imagination. Why settle for copying the iPhone’s widgets? In fact, why not redesign the iPad’s home screen completely?
Lily Watson Moderator
access_time 14 minutes ago
"Hopefully, they do optimize to better adapt to the larger screen, as some seem to be developed with the iPhone as their optimal experience." But that shows a lack of imagination. Why settle for copying the iPhone’s widgets? In fact, why not redesign the iPad’s home screen completely?
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Sophia Chen 14 minutes ago
The iPad is still essentially a big iPhone. If its grid of widely spaced app icons were downtown rea...
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Aria Nguyen 11 minutes ago
It uses the same chip, the large iPad has the same size screen as a MacBook, and you can use it with...
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The iPad is still essentially a big iPhone. If its grid of widely spaced app icons were downtown real estate, developers would have filled in the gaps years ago. Here’s a concept video from tech writer Matt Birchler: These days, the iPad shares more with the Mac.
Noah Davis Member
access_time 8 minutes ago
The iPad is still essentially a big iPhone. If its grid of widely spaced app icons were downtown real estate, developers would have filled in the gaps years ago. Here’s a concept video from tech writer Matt Birchler: These days, the iPad shares more with the Mac.
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Madison Singh 4 minutes ago
It uses the same chip, the large iPad has the same size screen as a MacBook, and you can use it with...
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It uses the same chip, the large iPad has the same size screen as a MacBook, and you can use it with a trackpad and a keyboard. Using the home screen as an almost-empty app launcher is a huge waste of space—imagine if your Mac or PC desktop could only show the Applications folder.
Henry Schmidt Member
access_time 9 minutes ago
It uses the same chip, the large iPad has the same size screen as a MacBook, and you can use it with a trackpad and a keyboard. Using the home screen as an almost-empty app launcher is a huge waste of space—imagine if your Mac or PC desktop could only show the Applications folder.
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Mason Rodriguez 3 minutes ago
So, what kinds of changes might we hope for?

iPad Desktop

Let’s just skip over the idea...
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So, what kinds of changes might we hope for? <h2> iPad Desktop </h2> Let’s just skip over the idea that the iPad will get iPhone-like widgets, only better-sized to fit the iPad’s bigger screen, and move on to more exciting options. A proper desktop for the iPad would be great—somewhere to drop files and save screenshots, a place to rest between nerve-wracking iPad drag-and-drop operations.
Sofia Garcia Member
access_time 10 minutes ago
So, what kinds of changes might we hope for?

iPad Desktop

Let’s just skip over the idea that the iPad will get iPhone-like widgets, only better-sized to fit the iPad’s bigger screen, and move on to more exciting options. A proper desktop for the iPad would be great—somewhere to drop files and save screenshots, a place to rest between nerve-wracking iPad drag-and-drop operations.
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Sophia Chen 8 minutes ago
That might be wishful thinking, but widgets could replace many of the desktop’s features. "Wid...
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Madison Singh 1 minutes ago
Perhaps a Files app widget would let you place arbitrary files and folders onto the home screen? Mus...
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That might be wishful thinking, but widgets could replace many of the desktop’s features. &#34;Widgets can greatly increase the utility of an iPad,&#34; says Freiberger. &#34;They can be customized so it feels more like a desktop/laptop or a phone and can allow the tablet to be used as a persistent display if that&#39;s something you&#39;re interested in.&#34; It needs to be streamlined and allow for user customization of layout to truly get the most out of widgets.
Kevin Wang Member
access_time 33 minutes ago
That might be wishful thinking, but widgets could replace many of the desktop’s features. "Widgets can greatly increase the utility of an iPad," says Freiberger. "They can be customized so it feels more like a desktop/laptop or a phone and can allow the tablet to be used as a persistent display if that's something you're interested in." It needs to be streamlined and allow for user customization of layout to truly get the most out of widgets.
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William Brown 28 minutes ago
Perhaps a Files app widget would let you place arbitrary files and folders onto the home screen? Mus...
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James Smith 10 minutes ago
Widgets also could update much more often than they do now, so you could have real-time dashboard-ty...
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Perhaps a Files app widget would let you place arbitrary files and folders onto the home screen? Music and podcast apps could let you tap their control buttons without launching an app, which is what they do on the iPhone.
Hannah Kim Member
access_time 48 minutes ago
Perhaps a Files app widget would let you place arbitrary files and folders onto the home screen? Music and podcast apps could let you tap their control buttons without launching an app, which is what they do on the iPhone.
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Victoria Lopez 34 minutes ago
Widgets also could update much more often than they do now, so you could have real-time dashboard-ty...
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Widgets also could update much more often than they do now, so you could have real-time dashboard-type apps. A Twitter widget, for example, could update in real time, right there on your home screen.
David Cohen Member
access_time 65 minutes ago
Widgets also could update much more often than they do now, so you could have real-time dashboard-type apps. A Twitter widget, for example, could update in real time, right there on your home screen.
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With all this added functionality, it would be a shame to hide it whenever you launch an app. So, how about allowing a split-view, with an app using one half of the screen, and the new &#34;desktop&#34; using the other.
Isaac Schmidt Member
access_time 14 minutes ago
With all this added functionality, it would be a shame to hide it whenever you launch an app. So, how about allowing a split-view, with an app using one half of the screen, and the new "desktop" using the other.
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Liam Wilson 14 minutes ago
Better still, allow iPad apps to run in resizable windows. The new M1 iPad seems built to connect to...
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Mia Anderson 11 minutes ago
For example, the iPhone widget for podcast app Castro shows the next three podcasts in your queue. Y...
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Better still, allow iPad apps to run in resizable windows. The new M1 iPad seems built to connect to an external display via its Thunderbolt port, and windows would be a perfect fit for large screens. <h2> Interaction and Information </h2> The key to widgets is they give you information without having to open an app, and they let you interact with it.
Charlotte Lee Member
access_time 45 minutes ago
Better still, allow iPad apps to run in resizable windows. The new M1 iPad seems built to connect to an external display via its Thunderbolt port, and windows would be a perfect fit for large screens.

Interaction and Information

The key to widgets is they give you information without having to open an app, and they let you interact with it.
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For example, the iPhone widget for podcast app Castro shows the next three podcasts in your queue. You can tap any of them, and it will play. The iPhone’s interaction is generally limited to touch, but the iPad has keyboard and trackpad support, and the Apple Pencil.
James Smith Moderator
access_time 48 minutes ago
For example, the iPhone widget for podcast app Castro shows the next three podcasts in your queue. You can tap any of them, and it will play. The iPhone’s interaction is generally limited to touch, but the iPad has keyboard and trackpad support, and the Apple Pencil.
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Andrew Wilson 27 minutes ago
Imagine using the Apple Pencil to sketch or take notes in a widget, or typing a note. This expanded ...
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Imagine using the Apple Pencil to sketch or take notes in a widget, or typing a note. This expanded input range makes sense for the Mac, too.
Evelyn Zhang Member
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Imagine using the Apple Pencil to sketch or take notes in a widget, or typing a note. This expanded input range makes sense for the Mac, too.
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Widgets already run on the Mac, but they’re no more functional than iPhone widgets. The iPad’s h...
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We have no idea what Apple might do, but to be honest, it couldn’t be much worse than what we have...
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Widgets already run on the Mac, but they’re no more functional than iPhone widgets. The iPad’s home screen is overdue for a rework, and with the power of the M1 iPad, the simple icon grid seems even more primitive.
Ethan Thomas Member
access_time 18 minutes ago
Widgets already run on the Mac, but they’re no more functional than iPhone widgets. The iPad’s home screen is overdue for a rework, and with the power of the M1 iPad, the simple icon grid seems even more primitive.
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We have no idea what Apple might do, but to be honest, it couldn’t be much worse than what we have now. Was this page helpful?
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We have no idea what Apple might do, but to be honest, it couldn’t be much worse than what we have now. Was this page helpful?
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