In addition to third-party keyboards, support for widgets is another new iOS 8 feature that Android users have had for years. Now that iOS 8 is finally available for a slew of iOS devices, users will be able to get widgets on their screens. However, these aren’t Android-like widgets, but Apple-style widgets, and users will only get to play with the widgets that are supported by certain apps, as GigaOm points out, and the widgets will only show up in the Notification panel, which means they can’t be setup on any other home screen.
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To enable widgets other than the ones that are available by default on iOS 8, you’ll first have to install apps that have already created widgets for iOS 8, or update them to the latest version in case you already own them.
Once the app is installed, you will simply have to pull down the Notification panel by swiping downwards on the top of any home screen (or the lock screen), and go to the Today section. In there, right near the bottom, there’s an Edit button that will take you to a second screen where widgets can be set up – note that the actual “widget” word doesn’t appear anywhere, so don’t look for it.
By default, Apple widgets appear, including Today Summary, Calendar, Reminders and Tomorrow Summary, and the apps that have integrated widgets support will be initially disabled, appearing under a “Do Not Include” tab next to a green “+” button. Simply clicking on the button will enable that widget and clicking and holding on the right side of an active widget will let you move it up and down the list. Similarly, clicking on the red “-” button that appears next to enabled widgets will let you remove them.
Once activated (you can press Done in the top right corner), the widget will be displayed in the Today section. To disable a widget and add more, simply repeat the steps above. The procedure is similar on iPhone (iPod touch) and iPad.
Images showing how the Yahoo Weather widget can be added to the Notification panel are available at the source link.
