Widgets are easily one of Android’s most underrated features. You can use widgets to show important and relevant information right on your phone’s home screen, control important device settings, and much more.
There are plenty of widgets available for Android devices on the Play Store that will help you achieve exactly what you want and let you set up the home screen exactly how you wish.
If you are new to the world of Android, check out our guide on how to easily add, remove, and resize widgets on your Android device.
Widgets on Android: What You Need to Know
Unlike iPhones, Android widgets can be interactive, which means you can have widgets with toggles and buttons to control your smart home devices, Bluetooth headsets, various device settings, and more. Additionally, any widget on your home screen will periodically refresh itself to show up-to-date information, such as news or Tweets.
Your Android device will come with pre-installed widgets, but you can always download more from the Google Play Store. Check out our roundup of best Android widgets for your smartphone for more options.
It’s easy to add widgets on any Android device—just hold your finger down on the home screen and select the Widgets option from the menu that opens up. Here’s a closer look at how to do it on specific devices or apps.
How to Add Widgets on Your Samsung Phone
- Long-press on an empty area on the home screen of your Samsung Galaxy device where you want to place a widget.
- From the menu that pops up at the bottom, tap on Widgets.
- Now, proceed to select the app whose widget you’d like to add to your home screen.
- If a widget is available in multiple sizes, you will first have to select the size you want to use. The widget size will be shown at the top alongside its type. Tap on Add after that.
- You can move the widget around on your home screen by long-pressing it and dragging it to your desired position.
You can resize a widget after adding it as well. Certain widgets automatically switch to a different layout when you resize them. To resize a widget on your Samsung smartphone, follow the below steps:
- Long press on the widget that you want to resize until the drag handles show up.
- Proceed to drag and increase/decrease the size of the widget as per your liking. Some widgets will only allow you to drag them horizontally, while others will let you drag vertically as well.
- As you increase or decrease the widget’s size, it will automatically update its layout to show more (or less) content.
- Once done, simply tap on an empty area of your home screen or press the back button.
Removing a widget is also as simple as adding them. Simply long-press on the widget you want to remove and tap the Remove option.
How to Add and Resize Widgets on Your OnePlus Phone
The process to add widgets to the home screen of your OnePlus phone is very similar to other Android devices.
- Long press on an empty area of your home screen where you want to add a widget. From the menu that shows up, tap Widgets.
- Tap and hold the widget that you’d like to add to your home screen. All the available widget sizes will also be shown to you in this very panel.
- Drop the widget on your home screen where you want to place it.
- To resize a widget, simply long-press and drag the handles to increase or decrease its size.
How to Add and Resize Widgets in Nova Launcher on Android
If you’re using the popular Nova Launcher you can add widgets in pretty much the same way. There are a few extra options to tweak how they look, too.
- Long press on an empty area of your home screen. This will bring up the Widgets panel at the bottom.
- Swipe up on the Widgets panel to reveal all its contents. Select and hold the widget you’d like to place on the home screen.
- Now drag the widget to where you want to place it on your home screen.
- In some cases, Nova Launcher might show you an option to change the widget’s background color and transparency level. Tap Save after you are done making all the changes.
To resize a widget on your Android device using Nova Launcher, simply long-press on the widget and select the Resize option. Then, drag the handles around the widget to resize it. You can also enable or disable the padding around the widget to optimize the space it takes.
Add Widgets to Diversify Your Android’s Home Screen
You should definitely try out widgets on your Android home screen as they will allow you to spice up its looks and add useful new features to it.
There are plenty of widget apps on the Google Play Store that will let you create custom widgets as per your liking, in case you are not fond of the widgets that came pre-loaded with your Android device.