In this series of articles, I will highlight groups of widgets that are useful for different tasks. This first article in the series features widgets that are useful for monitoring or tweaking Android settings. Note: Most of these widgets also have “pro” or “extended” versions with more features, but which also costs money.
Adding Widgets
To add a widget to your Android device, simply long press anywhere on your home screen and select “widget”.
Widgets For Toggling Settings
A smartphone has a number of features that are not always necessary. For example, unless you are in an area with WiFi, having your WiFi radio turned on is a waste of battery as it will constantly try and find a new network. On the other hand, it is a pain to have to constantly dig through menus to disable selected radios. Therefore, putting toggle widgets (widgets that activate or deactivate particular functions) on your home screen alleviates this pain.
- Free Power Widget: This puts a widget bar on your home screen that allows you to monitor and toggle a multitude of settings, including the following:
USB Airplane WiFi Bluetooth (only Android 2.x) Silent Lock Pattern (Only Android 2.2 or lower) Brightness Toggle Brightness Slider Sync (only Android 2.x) Orientation GPS 2G/3G Stay awake Always On Screen Timeout WiFi Lock
- Toggle Widgets Pack: This pack of widgets places individual icons on your home screen (unlike the above widget bar) and it allows you to toggle the following settings:
Airplane mode Bluetooth GPS (Not one click since Android API does not support this) Reboot (Requires root access) Silent mode Vibrate WiFi
- CurveFish Widgets: The developer CurveFish has created individual widgets for toggling the following settings:
SilentMode, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, AutoRotate, Brightness Level, 2G to 3G, APN (data), AutoSync and LockPattern You can also download the OnOff Widgets Pack (from the same developer) which features a collection of the following toggle widgets:
Airplane mode APN (data) AutoRotate AutoSync Bluetooth Brightness GPS LockScreen Network 2G/3G Screen timeout Silent mode WiFi
Battery Monitor Widgets
It is strange that Google does not provide an adequate application for monitoring the battery level of your Android handset. There is a battery icon in the notification bar, however it is not very precise. Fortunately, there are a number of widgets that display the battery level of your device on your home screen:
Conclusion
In the next part of this Android widget series, we will discuss the various clock widgets in the market. Image credit: Johan Larsson
