Google has disclosed a string of new lock screen widget for the iPhone, with one for Gmail, timed with the iOS 16 release.
A refreshed lock screen is the most noticeable change to iOS in this latest update and Google’s significant apps will support it, but you’ll have to stay a little while.
While some creators are driving updates to their apps today with new widgets, Google says you can expect these to come “in the coming weeks,” so until they’re available; we’ll walk you through the showcase.
The Gmail lock screen widget includes several additional displays with clean, to-the-point updates, pulling details from your inbox. One is circular and displays the number of new/unread messages in your inbox. At the same time,
another view is a bar that can display detailed counts for specific sections, like social, unread messages, promotions, unread Google Chat messages, or a simple bar with the date and number of recent messages.
For Google Maps, the widget, can automatically state ETAs for places it thinks you’ll need to go, including public transportation details and location reminders. It also has options for single-tap shortcuts showing you nearby restaurants, shopping centers, coffee shops, and hotels.
Google Search has one-tap widget buttons, too, that can open up a search box, prep your phone to search using the camera, go to voice search, or open directly into tools like Google Translate, Google Shopping, and Google Scholar.
Other widgets include several for Google Chrome to open the browser, head to voice search, dive directly into an Incognito tab, or open up the dinosaur game. The Google Drive widget can give you access to starred folders with one click and notify you when a folder or document has been shared with you. In contrast, Google News has a widget to compete with Apple’s News app, promising you a preview of a headline and story.
Several widgets are available from Apple for apps like Weather, Calendar, Clock, Fitness and Reminders. Still, third-party app developers can also create widgets for the Lock Screen.
- Fantastical: With Fantastical’s the lock screen widget shows your upcoming events and a mini calendar. Fantastical also supports Focus Filters, another iOS 16 feature.
- Flighty: The flight tracking app Flighty offers several different widget options. You can see a countdown to your trip before you go, and when you’re ready to travel, you can see your gate code, seat number, and take-off time. When the flight’s in the air, you can see an in-flight progress bar, and then when you land, you can view your arrival gate, weather, and baggage carousel information.
- Scanner Pro: Scanner Pro’s the simple widget lets you tap to get right to the camera for scanning documents.
- Facebook: Facebook’s widgets let you see which friends have birthdays and provide complete updates from the people you follow.
- Gmail, Chrome, and Maps: As we highlighted earlier this morning, Google added several new widgets across its apps. There are widgets for Google Maps, Chrome, Google News, Gmail, and more.
- Apollo: Reddit app Apollo has added several fun widgets you can choose from. There’s a widget to get you right to trending posts, a distance scrolled widget, a karma widget, and an inbox widget so you can see if you have any unread messages. In addition, some devices show you how your most recent post or comment is performing and an option to get to a favorite or random subreddit.