14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 11 comes with widgets, a feature that has apparently been in the works since the early development stages of Windows 8.
And needless to say, Microsoft is betting big on widgets, with every feature update coming with new features on this front and additional polishing.
At this point, however, the experience with widgets is more or less limited, pretty much because only first-party widgets are available. Microsoft is indeed planning to bring third-party widgets to Windows 11 users, so the company needs to work together with developers to make sure they do develop such capabilities for their apps.
Earlier this week, the software giant has published developer guidance for widgets, thus making sure that it’s helping software makers discover this new feature of the OS.
Microsoft’s resources include widgets terminology and principles, as well as guidance to plan an app’s widget experience.
“Windows Widgets are small UI containers that display text and graphics, associated with an app installed on the device. Installed widgets are displayed in a grid in the Widgets Board: a flyout plane that overlays the Windows desktop when the user clicks Widgets icon on the taskbar, uses the Windows+W shortcut, or swipes from the left edge of the screen,” Microsoft says.
“Widgets help people stay on top of what's important to them by aggregating personalized content and quick actions from the apps they use. They are quickly consumable and actionable. Widgets are not meant to replace apps and websites, but rather provide frictionless access to most-needed information or often-used functionalities that people can read/trigger right away. When designing your widget, consider the kind of value it will bring to your consumers.”
Of course, it’ll take some time until developers embrace widgets en-masse, but at this point, it’s very clear that Microsoft is betting big in the long term on this feature.