One of the more notable changes introduced in iOS 14, which is generating a lot of interest, is the proliferation of widgets that can be added to any page.
You can do weird and valuable things with them especially if you’re willing to recreate around with apps such as Shortcuts and Widgetsmith.
To start, here’s how to add a current widget to your home screen:
- Touch and hold a vacant area on your screen until your apps jiggle and display minus symbols
- Click the plus sign in the upper-left corner, and you’ll get the menu of existing widgets.
- Touch and hold your screen and click the plus sign.
- You’ll get a selection of gadgets to choose from.
- Tap on the device you want to add. Then, swipe left and right to select the widget’s size and shape.
- Tap “Add Widget”
- Once you’ve added the widget, click anywhere on the home screen to go out of edit mode.
- Swipe right and left to choose the size and shape you want.
- Long press on a widget to extract it.
The first time you click the new widget, you may be requested to adjust its features (for instance, to suggest a weather widget what you desire it to report).
To drag the widget around the screen or to another screen, just long-press it until it begins to shake, and then move it where you want it; if you’re going to get rid of the widget, long-press to get up a remove option.
CREATE A WIDGET STACK
You can build a stack of widgets if you want to save space or if there’s one widget you’ll only want to use periodically.
To create a stack:
- Choose a widget for your home screen as described above and place it where you want. Then, select the next device you want to stack (you can stack as considerable as 10) and save it to your home screen.
- Long push the widget so that you can carry it around the screen and put it on top of the first. Note that the device must be the same size and shape; you can’t put a small widget on a medium-sized one.
- Swipe up or down on the ultimate widget, and the next one will be revealed to witness each widget in your stack.
- You can pile your widgets (detect the dots on the right side of the stack.
- Long tap on a stack to edit it.
- If you want to modify the position of or remove any of the apps in the stack:
- Long press the stack and choose “Edit Stack.”
- Press the three stripes to the side of every app to adjust its position in the stack
- To empty the app, swipe it to the left
CREATE A SMART STACK in iOS 14
Apple has also built a feature it anoints a “Smart Stack,” which will automatically pick which widget should be on top, counting on your location, what time it is, or what you most often glance at.
iOS 14 arrives with a pre-built Smart Stack created up of a group of selected apps. You add that stack the exact way you’d add any widget:
- Long press on your home screen and click the plus icon in the upper-left corner
- Scroll down until you notice the widget called “Smart Stack.”
- As with the different widgets, scroll sideways to choose the size you want, and tap “Add Widget.”
- You can stack your widgets (detect the dots on the right side of the stack)
- Select the “Smart Stack” widget like you would any widget.
- “Smart Rotate” turns almost any pile into a Smart Stack.
Once you’ve added it, you can modify the order of the included apps or remove the ones you don’t want, the exact way you’d remove any stacked apps. Or, if you’re going to begin from scratch, you can build your Smart Stack:
- Then, press any stack you’ve created for a few moments and select “Edit Stack.”
- Toggle “Smart Rotate” on
USING WIDGETS ON iPADS
You can also utilize widgets (and widget stacks) on iPads — however, they can only be established in the Today view on the left side of the left-most screen. Otherwise, adding and piling widgets is the same as on the iPhone — the procedure for creating Smart Stacks.
If you want to maintain your widgets in view no matter which screen you’re on, you can.
- Press and hold a vacant area in the Today View
- When you notice “Keep On Home Screen,” toggle it on.