Google finishes rolling out all of its iPhone lock screen widgets
Whereas Google ditched lock screen widgets not too long after supporting them with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean way back in 2012, Apple has suddenly decided to start embracing them. And that, of course, meant that Google had to start caring about them again. WithiOS 16’s release, Google came out withits widget plansfor apps including Drive, Gmail, Maps, Search, News, and Chrome. We’re about a month into this brave new world and it seems that all of the widgets are finally finding their places on iPhones.
As iOS 16 became more widely available, users started seeing lock screen widgets for Chrome, Drive, Gmail, and News. Two more apps have now officially joined the list — Search and Maps — thus concluding the rollout of Google-based lock screen widgets for Apple’s latest software release.
Lock screen widgets support makes its way to Google Maps with version 6.40 of the app featured in the App Store, 9to5Googlenotes, while the Search widgets come via the standalone Google app for iOS.
With Maps, users get a 2x1 frequent trips widget that pulls up ETAs for their usual trips plus 1x1 pads with the ability to look for nearby gas stations, restaurants, etc.
The Google app gets five widgets though Search proper gets 2x1 and 1x1 variants. Then there are 1x1 widgets for Voice search, Lens, and Lens shortcuts. Users may need to update and launch the Maps and Google apps widgets to find them among the list of iOS 16 lock screen widgets.
Could Apple’s move lead to Google rethinking its strategy towards lock screen widgets for Android? Probably not on its own, but we reckon at least a few Android smartphone manufacturers are figuring out ways to bring it back to Android in some form.
Following the hype around the iPhone 14 Pro’s newDynamic Island, one Android developer hitched onto the bandwagon with a third-party app attempting to replicate the experience. That app managed to rake ina million-plus downloadsin the process.
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