Google will add Search, Maps, Gmail, and more to the iPhone’s Lock Screen. iPhone owners can now add widgets to their Lock Screen with iOS 16, instead of just their Home Screen.
These small widgets come in three sizes: circular, rectangular, and inline, which is a line of text and symbols above the clock.
Google’s widgets support all three forms. The business showed its iOS 16 widgets, including a Search widget that allows you search Google from the Lock Screen using your voice or camera (Google Lens). This widget includes Google Translate.
A new Chrome Lock Screen widget will allow users to initiate a search, including a voice search, as well as an incognito-mode search. It adds Chrome’s offline dino game as a Lock Screen widget. (We adore the dino game, but can’t understand giving up Lock Screen real estate for this.)
The new Google Drive Lock Screen widget will let you open a suggested Drive file or Starred files and folders with a tap.
The company offers widgets for its search engine services, including Search, Lens, Translate, Google Shopping, and Google Scholar (the latter are one-slot widgets).
Google apps receive widgets. Chrome’s four widgets open the browser, voice search, Incognito Mode, and the Dino game Easter egg. Drive’s four-slot widget shows Starred and recommended files. Google Maps provides two-slot widgets for rapid travel to home, work, or other locations. Cafes, restaurants, stores, and motels are searchable via widget. Gmail offers one-, two-, and four-slot inbox trackers. Moreover Google News features two headline spots.
Google said these widgets won’t go live for a few weeks, so consumers should download its apps. We expect some Android manufacturers to incorporate a Dynamic Island to their software skins, but we want lock screen widgets first, okay? Don’t make us install a third-party app.