Switched On: Apple wanes in the widget wars
By Ross Rubin 
posted August 12th 2009 8:09PM
posted August 12th 2009 8:09PM
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
One of the challenges for companies trying to build across the "three screens" of the television, PC and cell phone is adapting their distinctive technologies to those platforms. Apple showed strong early momentum on the Mac with its widget architecture, but is falling behind some rivals in bringing glanceable utility to other platforms.
Introduced with Mac OS X Tiger, Dashboard widgets (or "gadgets" as Google and Microsoft call them) are small, simple applets intended to convey quick bits of information or provide a quick change of settings. Veteran Mac users recognized them as the reincarnation of desk accessories, which provided functions such as an alarm clock and note pad when the Mac could run only one program at a time. Apple aggregates thousands of widgets on a special web page, and Leopard brought a new feature called Web Clips to provide an easy way for consumers to create their own widgets from part of a Web page in addition to the more traditional Dashcode development tool.
Dashboard earned its own button on the Mac keyboard. It drew some criticism due to its modal nature, but its ability to quickly display or hide a screenful of widgets without having to mess with window arrangements made it more convenient than the gadget implementation in Windows Vista and even Windows 7, which has freed gadgets from the Sidebar and now displays them on the desktop -- a throwback to the Active Desktop feature of Windows 95. When Apple launched the iPhone, it suggested that the device featured widgets, but they were there in name only. Some of the functions such as weather and stock viewing mirrored their Dashboard counterparts, but they couldn't be invoked without disrupting the active app as they could on the Mac. This is particularly unfortunate because, like the original Mac with its desk accessories, the iPhone could benefit greatly from having a way to view some simple information when another app is active. An iPhone implementation of Dashboard must be one of the ideas being kicked around the iPhone development team.
As Apple promotes the tens of thousands of applications available for the iPhone, competitors are rushing to circumvent the breadth and depth of the iPhone app library by bubbling information up to the top. If device functions are buried in an app that requires too much work to access immediately, the platform that dies with the most apps is still dead.
A strong example is Android 1.5, which increased widget support, and gained the kind of advantages versus Apple that eventually led to the departure of Google CEO Eric Schmidt from Apple's Board of Directors. Google plays second fiddle on the desktop in the widget wars to Apple and Microsoft, but it now has a strong widget portfolio across the PC and Android devices.
HTC may not call its Sense screens widgets, they embody the notion of bubbling important information to the top -- similar to what HP does in its TouchSmart PC user interface. Nokia is turning to widgets to help differentiate its flagship N97. And far beyond the niche of high-end of smartphone operating systems, Samsung and LG allow you to drag widgets from toolbars on select touchscreen feature phones.
Finally, there's the living room, where Apple's fallen even further behind. As I wrote last week, one reason Apple would have interest in an integrated video tablet would be to have more control over the display than it can with Apple TV, whose outsider status makes it difficult to implement TV widgets effectively. Meanwhile, high-volume TV manufacturers Sony, Samsung, LG and Vizio have adopted the Yahoo! Connected TV widget platform, itself based on the Konfabulator platform that was an early Mac widget architecture.
No company is yet excelling at widgets across the TV, PC, and cell phone, but deploying widgets on non-PC platforms is more of an imperative since consumers are often more actively engaged in other content or communications as they use the device. Ultimately, Apple should embrace widgets as a pillar of its three-screen strategy. In the short-term, though. simply making iPhone widgets live up to their name would deploy the power of these simple programs to ameliorate the complex challenges of smartphone multitasking.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
Introduced with Mac OS X Tiger, Dashboard widgets (or "gadgets" as Google and Microsoft call them) are small, simple applets intended to convey quick bits of information or provide a quick change of settings. Veteran Mac users recognized them as the reincarnation of desk accessories, which provided functions such as an alarm clock and note pad when the Mac could run only one program at a time. Apple aggregates thousands of widgets on a special web page, and Leopard brought a new feature called Web Clips to provide an easy way for consumers to create their own widgets from part of a Web page in addition to the more traditional Dashcode development tool.
Dashboard earned its own button on the Mac keyboard. It drew some criticism due to its modal nature, but its ability to quickly display or hide a screenful of widgets without having to mess with window arrangements made it more convenient than the gadget implementation in Windows Vista and even Windows 7, which has freed gadgets from the Sidebar and now displays them on the desktop -- a throwback to the Active Desktop feature of Windows 95. When Apple launched the iPhone, it suggested that the device featured widgets, but they were there in name only. Some of the functions such as weather and stock viewing mirrored their Dashboard counterparts, but they couldn't be invoked without disrupting the active app as they could on the Mac. This is particularly unfortunate because, like the original Mac with its desk accessories, the iPhone could benefit greatly from having a way to view some simple information when another app is active. An iPhone implementation of Dashboard must be one of the ideas being kicked around the iPhone development team.
As Apple promotes the tens of thousands of applications available for the iPhone, competitors are rushing to circumvent the breadth and depth of the iPhone app library by bubbling information up to the top. If device functions are buried in an app that requires too much work to access immediately, the platform that dies with the most apps is still dead.
A strong example is Android 1.5, which increased widget support, and gained the kind of advantages versus Apple that eventually led to the departure of Google CEO Eric Schmidt from Apple's Board of Directors. Google plays second fiddle on the desktop in the widget wars to Apple and Microsoft, but it now has a strong widget portfolio across the PC and Android devices.
Deploying widgets on non-PC platforms is an imperative since consumers are often more actively engaged in other content or communications as they use the device. |
Finally, there's the living room, where Apple's fallen even further behind. As I wrote last week, one reason Apple would have interest in an integrated video tablet would be to have more control over the display than it can with Apple TV, whose outsider status makes it difficult to implement TV widgets effectively. Meanwhile, high-volume TV manufacturers Sony, Samsung, LG and Vizio have adopted the Yahoo! Connected TV widget platform, itself based on the Konfabulator platform that was an early Mac widget architecture.
No company is yet excelling at widgets across the TV, PC, and cell phone, but deploying widgets on non-PC platforms is more of an imperative since consumers are often more actively engaged in other content or communications as they use the device. Ultimately, Apple should embrace widgets as a pillar of its three-screen strategy. In the short-term, though. simply making iPhone widgets live up to their name would deploy the power of these simple programs to ameliorate the complex challenges of smartphone multitasking.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
Widgets are a gimmick, I haven't touched them in 6 months on my 2 year old macbook
The problem is is that on a Mac, they are not persistent on your desktop. They have to be called out.
On Windows, its always there, and when you end up on an empty desktop after doing whatever it is you had to do, the gadgets catch your eye to give you whatever information they are designed to give you. Having them always on the desktop assures they will be used.
I found that hiding the widgets always made them very forgettable, which is why no one cares about widgets on OSX.
@Ruben,
To keep your widgets on your desktop goto Terminal and type in the following: "defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES"
Log out of your account and log back in and then press your dashboard key. Choose the widget you wish to remain on the desktop and then click and HOLD. Press your dashboard key and the widget should remain on the desktop. To put it back into dashboard just do the same but start holding from desktop and then press dashboard key. =]
I rarely use the widgets on my iMac and never use the gadgets on my Windows 7 VM or laptop. They just arent that useful to me. I prefer how Macs do it..i hate anything cluttering up my Desktop especially huge ugly out of place gadgets.
I have to assume widgets are like Spaces...its a feature you know is there but never use.
@wako
wait... I thought makes were intuitive...
Alright, I'll be the weird one in this group. I use dashboard daily, though I just use the widgets that come standard. I have the dashboard linked to a hot corner. What day of the week is the 23rd? What does "dephlogisticated" mean? Will it be hot today? What's 73% of $2,500? How's the weather in Beijing, and what time is it (I have friends overseas). I just flick the curser to the corner of the screen, and I've got a calculator, dictionary, three weather panels, three world clocks and a calendar.
@wako
I have a Mac (and really like it), but devmode is worthless. It doesn't place them on the desktop - it places them always-on-top! What's the point, if they cover up my applications?
I used to use widgets when they were Konfabulator widgets (on Windows). Then Apple "stole" the idea (or, more importantly, the technical design), but broke the only feature I cared about: persistent, but on-desktop widgets.
The closest I have come to having my tasks on my desktop is some complex and significantly less tasteful GeekTools scripts. :-(
I could see how some people may never use them, but I use Delivery Status, a Pandora webclip, and iStat all the time. It's nice to have them tucked away where I only have to look at them when I've intentionally brought them up.
agreed.
widgets for mac osx are whatever you want them to be. just use safari and open on dashboard feature. instant widgets of my netflix queue, twitter status update box, etc. :)
kind of wish Microsoft would add a similar feature to IE8 and Win7
While I agree with you, this is simply not the case when dealing with a 3.5" screen and a keyboard that's roughly half that size.
Widgets are MOST important in the smartphone space.
Unless Apple implements SOME sort of widget/multitasking architecture with the next iPhone, I'm going elsewhere. But if I could have every icon offer me useful information, and not just proclaim to be "73* and Sunny", and on top of that, let me have 2 or 3 different icon/widget sizes for each app that offer varying amounts of realtime information while taking up varying amounts of screen real estate, NOW we're talking.
Of course, knowing AT&T, they're probably going to take issue with iPhone apps running in the background, constantly taxing their network. Oh wait, that's pretty much guaranteed to happen.
All I know is that if iPhone 4.0 doesn't have widgets/seamless multitasking, I'm going Android.
I agree with you mostly that widgets are gimmicky and useless, but with one exception. The Vista sidebar makes widgets (gadgets) one of the most useful elements of the OS. No matter who you are or how you use your computer, there's probably some bit of information that you need regular updates of. For me it's the time, CPU usage (I really need an upgrade) and media playback (I'm always listening to music). When you have these important things on screen at all times, without conflicting with the window that you're working on, it makes working at your computer just that much easier :)
@Ruben,
In fact, I think the contrary. I like to have the ability to see the widgets only when you choose to.
On my PC, with Vista, I don't like to see them all the time, and if I ask the bar to hide, everytime I hover my mouse on the right side of the screen, they appear again ... so I disabled them totally.
When I tried Mac OSX the 1st time, I thought that was nice, you push the button if you want to see them, if you don't, they don't bother you.
I know that Geektool doesn't offer the same sort of funtionality of the widgets, but if you are a veteran mac user... you would probably be running Geektool to look at useful informtion on the go....
What I mean is, Widgets just eat away my processor, I disabled it.
I haven't used widgets in months either, I don't really have the memory to waste with a revA macbook so I've disabled it and used geek/nerdtool instead.
I've got text read outs for just about everything I used widgets for
I use widgets often. The calculator is much more convenient than launching a standalone program or hunting for a real one, and I jot notes on stickies all the time; recently, I added Application Update, which finds newer versions of third-party software, and iStat nano. So I wouldn't say they're categorically a gimmick, although I would agree that there a few that are.
@ Ruben
I think you either find them useful or not. If you use them, then having them out of the way of the desktop, available to call up anytime is potentially easier.
I find one or two of them fairly useful (the currency converter and weather ones mainly), but if they were on the desktop I would have to minimise/hide windows to see them. Not that it's difficult, but I think the idea behind the apple implimentation is that they are apps you only need to refer to once in awhile, rather than see all the time.
To each their own though - I think you're right that they tend to be forgotten about on the mac, as you can't see them all the time.
I use them daily - set to a hot corner . Mostly just to glance at weather, or use the calculator and unit Converter. But I also use Delivery Status (which syncs to the iphone over the web), movie showtimes and translation. So yeah, there are people who use them.
I did have confabulator back in the day and found the presence of the widgets on my desktop a little annoying. I mean, you almost always have app windows open anyway so you're gonna have to do something to see them either way... unless they are perma floating which bugs me too.
For something like itunes control I do like to have controls for that handy all the time and so I use YouControlTunes up in the menu bar.
I use them all the time. They are quite useful, specially for quick looks at the weather, iStat and calendar. I have Windows Sidebar at work configured similarly, but I almost never use it, because it only takes a small piece of the screen instead of being overlaid over my content, I forget about it.
i pull out my widgets like all of them tand then make another space use the code wako posted
than when i change spaces ( i do all the time) i see them
widgets rule
i love istat pro and i hate WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yet not an apple fan boy
i just use whats best
The lack of widgets on the iPhone is really annoying. I would really love a weather, alarm clock, and AIM widget.
That is part of the reason why if the Hero is announced for Sprint I will be switching from AT&T.
Well, iPhone apps are basically widgets, the thing is the iPhone doesn't have the means of keeping several applications running at once without severely impacting performance. If several people complain about widgets consuming resources on macbooks, imagine the uproar it would cause on the iPhone where the resources are much more limited. The idea of small background apps on the iPhone is counterproductive. Besides, practically all widgets are available in the iPhone as a full application, the difference only being that you call them apps instead of widgets (and of course, they don't consume resources unless you willingly open them). If you can't bring yourself to open up the application and see the changes, then that's your own problem.
In regards to widgets on TVs, that's the TV manufacturers' fault. The operating systems in TVs are primitive and closed, any improvement that has come out in recent years has been done from external devices (like the DVR or devices like the PS3 and Xbox 360) because the manufacturers aren't interested in harmonizing all of the devices in a usual home. I haven't thought of a good reason why either, other than fear of failing and losing large sums of money.
its called jailbreak and weathericon :) gotta have my temp on my status bar :)
most of those things can be done via a jailbroken iphone and the cydia appstore.
@War Machine
I disagree, apps are not widgets. Widgets are apps though...it's the implementation of an app that makes it a widget. I totally disagree with the idea that a widget is counterproductive (well maybe I can't speak to it on the iPhone like you state), on on my mobile device I want widgets, I want slimmed a slimmed down version of an app that gives me pertinent information at a glance rather then hiking around a huge application list, launching the app, waiting for it to load...then download the information (if it's network centric information). I for one can not imagine having a mobile device GUI that is nothing more then a bunch of apps on a screen. I want a small subset of information that I use consistently up front and within easy reach/view.
Also telling a person to 'bring themselves' to simply go with a single implementation of an idea, with out challenging it or at least thinking of better alternative, would leave us stagnate in the tech world.
@ ljm
I agree that if the device where capable, widgets would rock, but mobile phones aren't that capable. Imagine you just got your iPhone and after 2 hours of having it on without even looking at it, it runs out of power from constantly trying to update the information from Twitter. What I meant with counterproductive is that widgets become counterproductive when the primary function of the device (the phone) is hindered by the widgets running non-stop. Widgets in computers are already watered down to function seamlessly in the background, now you want them to water them down even more to run on the very limited space in a mobile phone? Granted, it's not impossible, but very few widgets would be able to conform to that standard and still provide a satisfactory outcome that doesn't hinder the device's performance.
You can apply the same functionality as a widget with the single difference being that you have to turn it on (most apps already do) maybe even prioritizing startup time so it doesn't become a hassle, sure it adds one step to your phone usage, but it leaves the phone capable of receiving calls or even opening some bigger application that's not a widget.
I agree completely.
I am so disappointed there isn't a Today Screen/ Widget for easy access to some important information.
I too will ditch the iPhone 3GS for Sprint's Hero.
Yea, I bothered me as a developer to know that dashboard widgets weren't on the iPhone.
The only thing I fear is how Apple would display widgets on the iPhone/iPod Touch, I'd like to see them more in the style of the HTC Hero, except to view widgets you'd have to scroll down on the home screen or something along that line.
@War Machine:
I'd like to point out that, at least in OS X's Dashboard, the majority of widgets do very little, if anything, when the Dashboard isn't actually visible. (There are certainly exceptions, but that's the idea of it.) I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but I seem to remember El Jobso mentioning in Tiger's introductory keynote that widgets were intentionally meant to fall dormant when in the background, avoiding unnecessary CPU usage until they were explicitly called upon by opening the Dashboard again.
This, or something like this, could theoretically work on the iPhone as well; have a small (and always small) number of widgets loaded in memory, ready to be called up with a gesture (a swipe across the status bar comes to mind, because I'm accustomed to using SBSettings on my JB'd device). If an application needs that memory, widgets are unloaded to make room, and the user simply has to wait a couple seconds longer the next time they call up their widgets. They're consistently treated as non-essential, with the OS favouring real apps when resources are tight, much like the behaviour on OS X.
Sorry, that should be "avoiding unnecessary CPU and network usage". That's important in the context of a mobile device too, for sure. :)
Not trying to sound like an apple fanboy, but that is indeed one of the strong points of the dashboard.
I have an G4 and between 10 and 15 widgets in the dashboard, but when i do not use them, they need 0% CPU. Some memory yes, but the CPU is not taxed when they are not active.
This is THE big advantage over vistas/ 7 or KDE implemtention of gadgets or plasmoids.
Also i really like the faact that i have another layer.
1st layer: desktop. Files i need temporary and shortcuts to my most used folders
2nd layer: The applications i work in
3rd layer: dashboard. Some additional bits and pieces
especially important when you are on a small screen
Anyone thinking of going from a 3GS to a Hero is going to be in a performance (or lack-thereof) shock. You wouldn't go from a pentium 4 to a pentium 3 anymore, would you?
At least wait for Android to come out on a device with a decent processor that isn't already 2 years old.
Yep. I have 2 G1s, and I use around 4 or 5 widgets each. I use weather, music playback (and track skipping), bluetooth and wifi toggle, and calendar while my wife does without the bluetooth and wifi toggle. Oh, and I have an app "cleaner" widget on both handsets to close down unnecessary apps, and a Google Voice toggle. Yeah, they are very, very useful indeed.
I Agree with Haikibutsu. The first thing I do when I install Vista on any of our systems at home is turn off the sidebar. None of the three users in our house like using them.
The only thing I've used widgets (or gadgets, whatever) on Windows Vista is for the weather, which is kind of convenient I guess. (I moved them off the sidebar and onto the desktop, having widgets on the desktop is not new to 7)
There's also a weather widget on Verizon's FiOS TV, which again is "kind of convenient, I guess" but I don't think they're really a game-changer...
The best widgets come for Opera browser. They work on desktops (PCs and Macs), Mobile phones and devices too.
They have a huge library of widgets too.
Pandora is the best Gadget there is, followed by weather. The Pandora gadget lacks a few features but doesn't have a 40hour limit for free isers.
Windows + G to rate songs makes it so simple.
For some reason I've read this repeatedly in the last few month regarding Windows 7. Moving gadget from the sidebar isn't a new feature! I'm really confused as to where this perception came from, since tossing gadgets all over the desktop was something mentioned in initial reviews of Vista way back when.
What is the widget on the bottom left? ALSO where can I get the netflix widget?
I think it is Istat pro at least it looks real similar
widgets aren't a gimmick, you just gotta have the mind set for them i don't use them never have on my macbook or my mini mac but i know lots of people that use them all the time... it's just one of those things that you either love or you don't.
I cant but feel that this article sort of alludes that Apple is the one who "invented" the whole widget thing. Which is totally untrue as a third party application called Konfabulator is what really got the thing rolling and Apple quickly ripped the whole basis of it on to the Mac.
I think calling them widgets is mystifying things a bit. Are they not simply small applications?
as opposed to a widget, which is a small device or control? i see your point.
I constantly utilize dashboard / widgets. Plus, with the ability to activate dashboard with screen corners makes checking my widgets even more effortless. The calculator, dictionary, post it notes, and calendar are just a small number of widgets that help me on a daily basis, all accessible by simply moving my mouse to the corner of my screen.
Why not merge the idea of widgets with apps? You could have the same program running as an app on your iPhone and running as a widget on OS X. Seems like a very modular way to address the issue.
Thats actually a very smart idea. Apps that you buy for the iPhone will be available for you to download onto your desktop as a widget. Some obviously don't make much sense, but imagine having access to that many fart apps all over your desktop.
To the patent office!!
It's also basically the case right now – widgets are web-based apps, and the iPhone will give home screen space to web apps, which can be enabled to run standalone without opening Safari. The excellent Glyphboard (http://www.mrgan.com/gb/) is a great example of such a web app.
As to widgets on TVs, don't make me laugh. Not only are they inconvenient and relatively useless, Konfabulator/Yahoo! Widgets is an embarrassment of a platform, as evidenced by the shitty quality of 99% of the widgets available (and lack of any good or even non-hideous new widgets for many years now).
To implement them on iPhone it should be a double click of the 'home' button to fade in the Dashboard. It can be chosen as an option under Settings>General>Home, where the options are 'home', 'search', 'iPod' and 'dashboard'.
When it fades in it should only show the basic apps like calendar, stocks, weather, calculator etc which would be useable until you tap home again to return to dashboard and again to your original program, or double tap to go straight to you original program and skip the dashboard. The other program you were on before should run as a background process with the dashboard app in the foreground, I know Apple dismissed background processing becaus it drained bttery life but as this would only be temporary it would be do-able.
They should employ me, seriously :)
It seems like if these theoretical iPhone widgets lived in a special class of application, they could make sure they didn't cause the same damage to battery life that a full-size app might, and thus allow them to process in the background.
The killer app of Apple widgets for me:
1. www.pandora.com
2. Safari -> File -> Open In Dashboard
Of course the dictionary, and quick glances at the stocks, currency conversions...
That's probably my favorite app available for my Pre. Pandora is so amazing. :-)