Tag Archives: Android

New devices at MWC, gaming news, XR & Gemini in Android Studio: Tune in for our winter episode of #TheAndroidShow on March 13!

Posted by Anirudh Dewani, Director – Android Developer Relations

In just a few days, on Thursday, March 13 at 10AM PT, we’ll be dropping our winter episode of #TheAndroidShow, on YouTube and on developer.android.com!

Mobile World Congress - the annual event in Barcelona where Android device makers show off their latest devices, kicked off yesterday. In our winter episode we’ll take a look at these foldables, tablets and wearables and tell you what you need to get building.

Plus we’ve got some news to share, like a new update for Gemini in Android Studio and some new goodies for games developers ahead of the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco later this month. And of course, with the launch of Android XR in December, we’ll also be taking a look at how to get building there. It’s a packed show, and you don’t want to miss it!

Some new Android foldables and tablets, at Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress is a big moment for Android, with partners from around the world showing off their latest devices. And if you’re already building adaptive apps, we wanted to share some of the cool new foldable and tablets that our partners released in Barcelona:

    • OPPO: OPPO launched their Find N5, their slim 8.93mm foldable with a 8.12” large screen - making it as compact or expansive as needed.
    • Xiaomi: Xiaomi debuted the Xiaomi Pad 7 series. Xiaomi Pad 7 provides a crystal-clear display and, with the productivity accessories, users get a desktop-like experience with the convenience of a tablet.
    • Lenovo: Lenovo showcased their Yoga Tab Plus, the latest powerful tablet from their lineup designed to empower creativity and productivity.

These new devices are a great reason to build adaptive apps that scale across screen sizes and device types. Plus, Android 16 removes the ability for apps to restrict orientation and resizability at the platform level, so you’ll want to prepare. To help you get started, the Compose Material 3 adaptive library enables you to quickly and easily create layouts across all screen sizes while reducing the overall development cost.

Tune in to #TheAndroidShow: March 13 at 10AM PT

These new devices are just one of the many things we’ll cover in our winter episode, you don’t want to miss it! If you watch live on YouTube, we’ll have folks standing by to answer your questions in the comments. See you on March 13 on YouTube or at developer.android.com/events/show!

Design with Widget Canonical Layouts

Posted by Summers Pitman – Developer Relations Engineer, and Ivy Knight – Senior Design Advocate

Widgets can bring more productive, delightful and customized experiences to users' home screens, but they can be tricky to design to ensure a high quality focused experience. In this blog post, we’ll cover how easy Widget Canonical Layouts can make this process.

But, what is a Canonical Layout? It is a common layout pattern that works for various screen sizes. You can use them as a starting point, ready-to-use compositions that help layouts adapt for common use cases and screen sizes. Widgets also provide Canonical Layouts to get started crafting higher quality widgets.

Widget Canonical Layouts

The Widget Canonical Layouts Figma makes previewing your widget content in multiple breakpoints and layout types. Join me in our Figma design resource to explore how they can simplify designing a widget for one of our sample apps, JetNews.

Three side-by-side examples of Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma being used to design a widget for JetNews

1. Content to adapt

Jetnews is a sample news reading app, built with Jetpack Compose. With the experience in mind, the primary user journey is reading articles.

    • A widget should be glanceable, so displaying a full article would not be a good use case.
    • Since they are timely news articles, surfacing newer content could be more productive for users.
    • We’ll want to give a condensed version of each article similar to the app home feed.
    • The addition of a bookmark action would allow the user to save and read later in the full app experience.
Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

2. Choosing a Canonical Layout

With our content and user journey established, we’ll take a glance at which canonical layouts would make sense.

We want to show at least a few new articles with a headline, truncated description, and possible thumbnail. Which brings us to the Image + Text Grid layout and maybe the list layout.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Within our new Figma Widget Canonical Layout preview, we can add in some mock content to check out how these layouts will look in various sizes.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Moving example of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

3. Adapting to breakpoint sizes

Now that we’ve previewed our content in both the grid and list layouts, we don’t have to choose between just one!

The grid layout better displays our content for larger sizes, where we have some more room to take advantage of multiple columns and a larger thumbnail image. While the list is working nicely for smaller sizes, giving a one column layout with a smaller thumbnail.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

But we can adapt even further to allow the user to have more resizing flexibility and anticipate different OEM grid sizing. For JetNews, we decided on an additional extra small layout to accommodate a smaller grid size and vertical height while still using the List layout. For this size I decided to remove the thumbnail all together to give the title and action space.

Consider these in-between design tweaks as needed (between any of the breakpoints), that can be applied as general rules in your widget designs.

Here are a few guidelines to borrow:

    • Establish a content hierarchy on what to hide as the widget shrinks.
    • Use a type scale so the type scales consistently.
    • Create some parameters for image scaling with aspect ratios and cropping techniques.
    • Use component presentation changes. For example, the title bar’s FAB can be reduced to a standard icon.
Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Last, I’ll swap the app icon, round up all the breakpoint sizes, and provide an option with brand colors.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

These are ready to send over to dev! Tune in for the code along to check out how to implement the final widget.

Go try it out and explore more widgets

You can find the Widget Canonical Layouts at our new Figma Community Page: figma.com/@androiddesign. Stay tuned for more Android Figma resources.

Check out the official Android documentation for detailed information and best practices Widgets on Android and more on Widget Quality Tiers, and join us for the rest of Widget Spotlight week!

Android Banner

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

Introducing Widget Quality Tiers

Posted by Ivy Knight – Senior Design Advocate

Level up your app Widgets with new quality tiers

Widgets can be a powerful tool for engaging users and increasing the visibility of your app. They can also help you to improve the user experience by providing users with a more convenient way to access your app's content and features.

To build a great Android widget, it should be helpful, adaptive, and visually cohesive with the overall aesthetic of the device home screen.

In order to help you achieve a great widget, we are pleased to introduce Android Widget Quality Tiers!

The new Widget quality tiers are here to help guide you towards a best practice implementation of widgets, that will look great and bring your user’s value across the ecosystem of Android Phone, Tablets and Foldables.

What does this mean for widget makers?

Whether you are planning a new widget, or investing in an update to an existing widget, the Widget Quality Tiers will help you evaluate and plan for a high quality widget.

Just like Large Screen quality tiers help optimize app experiences, these Widget tiers guide you in creating great widgets across all Android devices. Now, similar tiers are being introduced for widgets to ensure they're not just functional, but also visually appealing and user-friendly.

Two screenshots of a phone display different views in the Google Play app. The first shows a list of running apps with the Widget filter applied in a search for 'Running apps'; the second shows the Nike Run Club app page.
Widgets that meet quality tier guidelines will be discoverable under the new Widget filter in Google Play.

Consider using our Canonical Widget layouts, which are based on Jetpack Glance components, to make it easier for you to design and build a Tier 1 widget your users will love.

Let’s take a look at the Widget Quality Tiers

There are three tiers built with required system defaults and suggested guidance to create an enhanced widget experience:

Tier 1: Differentiated

Four mockups show examples of Material Design 3 dynamic color applied to an app called 'Radio Hour'.
Differentiated widgets go further by implementing theming and adapting to resizing.

Tier 1 widgets are exemplary widgets offering hero experiences that are personalized, and create unique and productive homescreens. These widgets meet Tier 2 standards plus enhancements for layout, color, discovery, and system coherence criteria.

A stylized cartoon figure holds their chin thoughtfully while a chat bubble icon is highlighted
For example, use the system provided corner radius, and don’t set a custom corner radius on Widgets.

Add more personalization with dynamic color and generated previews while ensuring your widgets look good across devices by not overriding system defaults.

Four mockups show examples of Material Design 3 components on Android: a contact card, a podcast player, a task list, and a news feed.
Tier 1 widgets that, from the top left, properly crop content, fill the layout bounds, have appropriately sized headers and touch targets, and make good use of colors and contrast.

Tier 2: Quality Standard

These widgets are helpful, usable, and provide a quality experience. They meet all criteria for layout, color, discovery, and content.

A simple to-do list app widget displays two tasks: 'Water plants' and 'Water more plants.' Both tasks have calendar icons next to them. The app is titled 'Plants' and has search and add buttons in the top right corner.
Make sure your widget has appropriate touch targets.

Tier 2 widgets are functional but simple, they meet the basic criteria for a usable app. But if you want to create a truly stellar experience for your users, tier 1 criteria introduce ways to make a more personal, interactive, and coherent widget.

Tier 3: Low Quality

These widgets don't meet the minimum quality bar and don't provide a great user experience, meaning they are not following or missing criteria from Tier 2.

Examples of Material Design 3 widgets are displayed on a light pink background with stylized X shapes. Widgets include a podcast player, a contact card, to-do lists, and a music player.
Clockwise from the top left not filling the bounds, poorly cropped content, low color contrast, mis-sized header, and small touch targets.

A stylized cartoon person with orange hair, a blue shirt, holds a pencil to their cheek. 'Kacie' is written above them, with a cut off chat bubble icon.
For example, ensure content is visible and not cropped

Build and elevate your Android widgets with Widget Quality Tiers

Dive deeper into the widget quality tiers and start building widgets that not only look great but also provide an amazing user experience! Check out the official Android documentation for detailed information and best practices.

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

SoundCloud uses Jetpack Glance to build Liked Tracks widget in just 2 weeks

Posted by Summers Pittman – Developer Relations Engineer

To make it even easier for users to listen on Android, developers at SoundCloud — an artist-first music platform — turned to Jetpack Glance to create a Liked Tracks widget for their highly-rated app, which boasts 4.6 stars and over 100 million downloads. With a catalog of over 400 million tracks from more than 40 million creators, SoundCloud is dedicated to connecting artists and fans through music, and this latest update to its Android app offers listeners an even more convenient way to enjoy their favorite tracks. Propelled by Glance, the team was able to complete the project in just two weeks, saving precious development time and boosting engagement.

Maximize visibility with user-friendly touchpoints

By showcasing the artwork of their recently liked tracks, the new Liked Tracks widget allows users to to jump directly to a specific song or access their full track list right from their home screen. This keeps SoundCloud front and center for listeners, acting as a shortcut to their personal libraries and encouraging them to tune back in.

Liked Tracks isn’t SoundCloud’s first widget. Over a decade ago, SoundCloud developers used RemoteViews to create a Player widget that let users easily control playback and like tracks. After recently updating the Player widget based on design feedback, developers made sure to prioritize a personalized interface for Liked Tracks. The new widget features both light and dark modes, resizes freely to accommodate user preferences, and dynamically adapts its theme to complement the user's wallpaper. Backed by Glance, these design choices ensured the widget isn’t just seamless to use but also serves as an appealing and tailored gateway into the SoundCloud app.

A foldable smartphone is open, displaying various apps and widgets, including music controls and 'Liked tracks'
SoundCloud’s Liked Tracks widget in action.

Accelerate development cycles with Glance

Glance also played a crucial role in streamlining the development of Liked Tracks. For developers already proficient in Compose, Glance’s intuitive design felt familiar, minimizing the learning curve and accelerating the team's onboarding. The platform’s collection of code samples provided a useful starting point, too, helping developers quickly grasp its capabilities and best practices. “Using sample app repositories is a great way to learn. I can check out an entire repository and inspect how the code operates,” said Sigute Kateivaite, lead SoundCloud engineer on the Android team. “It sped up our widget development by a lot.”

Quote card reads: “Using sample app repositories is a great way to learn. It sped up our widget development.” — Sigute Kateivaite, Android Engineer at SoundCloud

The declarative nature of Glance’s UI was especially beneficial to developers. Because they didn’t have to use additional XML files when building, developers could create cleaner, more readable code with less boilerplate. Glance also allowed them to work with modules separately, meaning components could be written and integrated one at a time and reused for later iterations. By isolating components, developers could quickly test modules, identify and resolve issues, and build for different states without duplication, leading to more efficient workflows.

Glance’s design also improved the overall code quality. The ability to make changes using Android Studio’s support for Glance’s real-time preview enabled developers to build components in isolation without needing to integrate the UI component into the widget or deploy the full widget on the phone. They could represent various states, view all relevant cases, and review changes to components without having to compile the full app. Put simply, Glance made developers more productive because it allowed them to iterate faster, refining the widget for a more polished final product.

Elevate app widgets with the power of Glance

With effective new workflows and no major development issues, the SoundCloud team applauds Glance for streamlining a successful production. “With the new Liked Tracks widget, rollout has been really stable,” Sigute said. “Development and the testing process went really smoothly.” Early data also shows promising results — active users now interact with the widget to access the app multiple times a day on average.

Stat card reads:'2X average daily active user interaction with widget feature.'
2X average daily active user interaction with widget feature.

Looking ahead, the SoundCloud team is eager to employ more of Glance to improve existing widgets, like adopting canonical layouts, and even develop new ones. While the current Liked Tracks widget focuses primarily on image display, the team is interested in including other types of content to further enrich user experience. Developers also hope to migrate the Player widget over to Glance to access the framework’s robust theming options, simplify resizing processes, and address some long-standing bugs.

Beyond the Liked Tracks and Player features, the team is excited about the potential of using Glance to build a wider range of widgets. The modular, component-based architecture of the Liked Tracks widget, with reusable elements like UserAvatar and Logo, offers a solid foundation for future development, promising to simplify processes from the start.

Get started building custom app widgets with Jetpack Glance

Rapidly develop and deploy widgets that keep your app visible and engaging with Glance.

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

New AI-Powered Scam Detection Features to Help Protect You on Android

Posted by Lyubov Farafonova, Product Manager, Phone by Google; Alberto Pastor Nieto, Sr. Product Manager Google Messages and RCS Spam and Abuse

Google has been at the forefront of protecting users from the ever-growing threat of scams and fraud with cutting-edge technologies and security expertise for years. In 2024, scammers used increasingly sophisticated tactics and generative AI-powered tools to steal more than $1 trillion from mobile consumers globally, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. And with the majority of scams now delivered through phone calls and text messages, we’ve been focused on making Android’s safeguards even more intelligent with powerful Google AI to help keep your financial information and data safe.

Today, we’re launching two new industry-leading AI-powered scam detection features for calls and text messages, designed to protect users from increasingly complex and damaging scams. These features specifically target conversational scams, which can often appear initially harmless before evolving into harmful situations.

To enhance our detection capabilities, we partnered with financial institutions around the world to better understand the latest advanced and most common scams their customers are facing. For example, users are experiencing more conversational text scams that begin innocently, but gradually manipulate victims into sharing sensitive data, handing over funds, or switching to other messaging apps. And more phone calling scammers are using spoofing techniques to hide their real numbers and pretend to be trusted companies.

Traditional spam protections are focused on protecting users before the conversation starts, and are less effective against these latest tactics from scammers that turn dangerous mid-conversation and use social engineering techniques. To better protect users, we invested in new, intelligent AI models capable of detecting suspicious patterns and delivering real-time warnings over the course of a conversation, all while prioritizing user privacy.

Scam Detection for messages

We’re building on our enhancements to existing Spam Protection in Google Messages that strengthen defenses against job and delivery scams, which are continuing to roll out to users. We’re now introducing Scam Detection to detect a wider range of fraudulent activities.

Scam Detection in Google Messages uses powerful Google AI to proactively address conversational scams by providing real-time detection even after initial messages are received. When the on-device AI detects a suspicious pattern in SMS, MMS, and RCS messages, users will now get a message warning of a likely scam with an option to dismiss or report and block the sender.

As part of the Spam Protection setting, Scam Detection on Google Messages is on by default and only applies to conversations with non-contacts. Your privacy is protected with Scam Detection in Google Messages, with all message processing remaining on-device. Your conversations remain private to you; if you choose to report a conversation to help reduce widespread spam, only sender details and recent messages with that sender are shared with Google and carriers. You can turn off Spam Protection, which includes Scam Detection, in your Google Messages at any time.

Scam Detection in Google Messages is launching in English first in the U.S., U.K. and Canada and will expand to more countries soon.

Scam Detection for calls

More than half of Americans reported receiving at least one scam call per day in 2024. To combat the rise of sophisticated conversational scams that deceive victims over the course of a phone call, we introduced Scam Detection late last year to U.S.-based English-speaking Phone by Google public beta users on Pixel phones.

We use AI models processed on-device to analyze conversations in real-time and warn users of potential scams. If a caller, for example, tries to get you to provide payment via gift cards to complete a delivery, Scam Detection will alert you through audio and haptic notifications and display a warning on your phone that the call may be a scam.

During our limited beta, we analyzed calls with Gemini Nano, Google’s built-in, on-device foundation model, on Pixel 9 devices and used smaller, robust on-device machine-learning models for Pixel 6+ users. Our testing showed that Gemini Nano outperformed other models, so as a result, we're currently expanding the availability of the beta to bring the most capable Scam Detection to all English-speaking Pixel 9+ users in the U.S.

Similar to Scam Detection in messaging, we built this feature to protect your privacy by processing everything on-device. Call audio is processed ephemerally and no conversation audio or transcription is recorded, stored on the device, or sent to Google or third parties. Scam Detection in Phone by Google is off by default to give users control over this feature, as phone call audio is more ephemeral compared to messages, which are stored on devices. Scam Detection only applies to calls that could potentially be scams, and is never used during calls with your contacts. If enabled, Scam Detection will beep at the start and during the call to notify participants the feature is on. You can turn off Scam Detection at any time, during an individual call or for all future calls.

According to our research and a Scam Detection beta user survey, these types of alerts have already helped people be more cautious on the phone, detect suspicious activity, and avoid falling victim to conversational scams.

Keeping Android users safe with the power of Google AI


We're committed to keeping Android users safe, and that means constantly evolving our defenses against increasingly sophisticated scams and fraud. Our investment in intelligent protection is having real-world impact for billions of users. Leviathan Security Group, a cybersecurity firm, conducted a funded evaluation of fraud protection features on a number of smartphones and found that Android smartphones, led by the Pixel 9 Pro, scored highest for built-in security features and anti-fraud efficacy1.

With AI-powered innovations like Scam Detection in Messages and Phone by Google, we're giving you more tools to stay one step ahead of bad actors. We're constantly working with our partners across the Android ecosystem to help bring new security features to even more users. Together, we’re always working to keep you safe on Android.

Notes

  1. Based on third-party research funded by Google LLC in Feb 2025 comparing the Pixel 9 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, Samsung S24+ and Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Evaluation based on no-cost smartphone features enabled by default. Some features may not be available in all countries. ↩

New AI-Powered Scam Detection Features to Help Protect You on Android

Posted by Lyubov Farafonova, Product Manager, Phone by Google; Alberto Pastor Nieto, Sr. Product Manager Google Messages and RCS Spam and Abuse

Google has been at the forefront of protecting users from the ever-growing threat of scams and fraud with cutting-edge technologies and security expertise for years. In 2024, scammers used increasingly sophisticated tactics and generative AI-powered tools to steal more than $1 trillion from mobile consumers globally, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. And with the majority of scams now delivered through phone calls and text messages, we’ve been focused on making Android’s safeguards even more intelligent with powerful Google AI to help keep your financial information and data safe.

Today, we’re launching two new industry-leading AI-powered scam detection features for calls and text messages, designed to protect users from increasingly complex and damaging scams. These features specifically target conversational scams, which can often appear initially harmless before evolving into harmful situations.

To enhance our detection capabilities, we partnered with financial institutions around the world to better understand the latest advanced and most common scams their customers are facing. For example, users are experiencing more conversational text scams that begin innocently, but gradually manipulate victims into sharing sensitive data, handing over funds, or switching to other messaging apps. And more phone calling scammers are using spoofing techniques to hide their real numbers and pretend to be trusted companies.

Traditional spam protections are focused on protecting users before the conversation starts, and are less effective against these latest tactics from scammers that turn dangerous mid-conversation and use social engineering techniques. To better protect users, we invested in new, intelligent AI models capable of detecting suspicious patterns and delivering real-time warnings over the course of a conversation, all while prioritizing user privacy.

Scam Detection for messages

We’re building on our enhancements to existing Spam Protection in Google Messages that strengthen defenses against job and delivery scams, which are continuing to roll out to users. We’re now introducing Scam Detection to detect a wider range of fraudulent activities.

Scam Detection in Google Messages uses powerful Google AI to proactively address conversational scams by providing real-time detection even after initial messages are received. When the on-device AI detects a suspicious pattern in SMS, MMS, and RCS messages, users will now get a message warning of a likely scam with an option to dismiss or report and block the sender.

As part of the Spam Protection setting, Scam Detection on Google Messages is on by default and only applies to conversations with non-contacts. Your privacy is protected with Scam Detection in Google Messages, with all message processing remaining on-device. Your conversations remain private to you; if you choose to report a conversation to help reduce widespread spam, only sender details and recent messages with that sender are shared with Google and carriers. You can turn off Spam Protection, which includes Scam Detection, in your Google Messages at any time.

Scam Detection in Google Messages is launching in English first in the U.S., U.K. and Canada and will expand to more countries soon.

Scam Detection for calls

More than half of Americans reported receiving at least one scam call per day in 2024. To combat the rise of sophisticated conversational scams that deceive victims over the course of a phone call, we introduced Scam Detection late last year to U.S.-based English-speaking Phone by Google public beta users on Pixel phones.

We use AI models processed on-device to analyze conversations in real-time and warn users of potential scams. If a caller, for example, tries to get you to provide payment via gift cards to complete a delivery, Scam Detection will alert you through audio and haptic notifications and display a warning on your phone that the call may be a scam.

During our limited beta, we analyzed calls with Gemini Nano, Google’s built-in, on-device foundation model, on Pixel 9 devices and used smaller, robust on-device machine-learning models for Pixel 6+ users. Our testing showed that Gemini Nano outperformed other models, so as a result, we're currently expanding the availability of the beta to bring the most capable Scam Detection to all English-speaking Pixel 9+ users in the U.S.

Similar to Scam Detection in messaging, we built this feature to protect your privacy by processing everything on-device. Call audio is processed ephemerally and no conversation audio or transcription is recorded, stored on the device, or sent to Google or third parties. Scam Detection in Phone by Google is off by default to give users control over this feature, as phone call audio is more ephemeral compared to messages, which are stored on devices. Scam Detection only applies to calls that could potentially be scams, and is never used during calls with your contacts. If enabled, Scam Detection will beep at the start and during the call to notify participants the feature is on. You can turn off Scam Detection at any time, during an individual call or for all future calls.

According to our research and a Scam Detection beta user survey, these types of alerts have already helped people be more cautious on the phone, detect suspicious activity, and avoid falling victim to conversational scams.

Keeping Android users safe with the power of Google AI


We're committed to keeping Android users safe, and that means constantly evolving our defenses against increasingly sophisticated scams and fraud. Our investment in intelligent protection is having real-world impact for billions of users. Leviathan Security Group, a cybersecurity firm, conducted a funded evaluation of fraud protection features on a number of smartphones and found that Android smartphones, led by the Pixel 9 Pro, scored highest for built-in security features and anti-fraud efficacy1.

With AI-powered innovations like Scam Detection in Messages and Phone by Google, we're giving you more tools to stay one step ahead of bad actors. We're constantly working with our partners across the Android ecosystem to help bring new security features to even more users. Together, we’re always working to keep you safe on Android.

Notes

  1. Based on third-party research funded by Google LLC in Feb 2025 comparing the Pixel 9 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, Samsung S24+ and Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Evaluation based on no-cost smartphone features enabled by default. Some features may not be available in all countries. ↩

Spotlight Week: Design and Develop Widgets

Posted by Ash Nohe and Summers Pitman – Developer Relations Engineers

We’re kicking off the next edition in our Spotlight Week series! This week, we'll be diving deep into how to create high-quality widgets that boost user engagement and improve discoverability.

We've heard your feedback: you want your widgets to be easily discoverable. To address this, we’re excited to share that Google Play is introducing a new search filter specifically for apps with high-quality widgets. By equipping you with the knowledge and tools to ensure your widgets shine, we aim to demonstrate how widgets can be a crucial element in building delightful, helpful, and performant widgets that keep your users engaged. Learn more about Google Play’s widget discovery features.



Here’s what we’re covering this week in our Spotlight Week on Widgets:

Why Widgets?

Monday, March 3rd

We’re kicking off the week with an overview of why widgets are essential for today's users. Learn how you can level up your app with Widgets and get inspired by these best-in-class examples. Plus, learn how Google Play is improving widget discovery through a dedicated search filter, new app detail page badges, and other enhancements designed to increase user interaction.

Design great widgets with Figma and Canonical Layouts

Tuesday, March 4th

Learn how to visualize your content in widget layouts and create high quality widgets with a new Figma resource, hands-on lab and blog with the Canonical Layouts. Learn from SoundCloud's experience: a case study showcasing impactful widget implementation.

Develop best practice widgets with Glance

Wednesday, March 5th

Follow our code-along video to learn practical widget update techniques using Canonical Layouts.

#AskAndroid

Thursday, March 6th

Get your widget questions answered in #AskAndroid, and dive into lockscreen widgets in our FAQ.


That's a week packed with widget insights! This blog post serves as your central hub for updates, with links added regularly throughout the week. Get even more widgets content and insights by following Android Developers on X, and Android by Google at Linkedin.


Resources

Level Up Your App: Why Android Widgets are a Game-Changer

Posted by André Labonté – Senior Product Manager, Android Widgets

If you're an Android app developer and you're looking to boost your app's visibility, and engagement, you should definitely consider adding widgets. These small but mighty UI elements can have a significant impact on your app's success.

A widget is basically a UI that lives outside your main app. Widgets act like a window into your app content and a shortcut to your core features, which users can conveniently engage with right from their home screen, lock screen, or even through digital assistants.

Why Widgets are Awesome for Your App:

    • More Visibility: Widgets put your brand and key features front and center on the user's device, so they're more likely to see it.
    • Better User Engagement: By giving users quick access to important features, widgets encourage them to use your app more often.
    • Increased Conversions: You can use widgets to recommend personalized content or promote premium features, which could lead to more conversions.
    • Happier Users Who Stick Around: Easy access to app content and features through widgets can lead to overall better user experience, and contribute to retention.

Understanding What Users Want: Key to Good Widget Design

People use widgets for different reasons. Understanding these motivations is crucial for designing widgets that resonate.

    • Customization: Users like to personalize their home screens. Think about how your app's content can help them do that.
    • Efficiency: Widgets give users quick access to the features they use a lot, which saves them time and effort. If your app has features that users would find handy to access right from their home screen, think about putting them in a widget.
    • Quick Info: Some widgets are great for giving users essential info at a glance. If users often open your app for quick updates, a glanceable widget.

Building Awesome Widgets: Tips for Developers

Here's how to make widgets that users will love:

    • Focus on Value: Make sure your widget does something useful for users without them having to open the app.
    • Keep it Simple: Design widgets that are easy to use and understand.
    • Make it Adaptable: Test your widgets on different Android devices (phones, tablets, foldables) to make sure they work well on all of them.
    • Match the Look: Design widgets that fit in with the system's overall look by using system colors, fonts, and corner shapes.
    • Make it Easy to Find: Use the widget pinning API to encourage users to add your widget from within your app. Give them good previews and descriptions so they know what it's all about.

Get Inspired and Start Building

We encourage you to integrate widgets into your Android app strategy. For inspiration and guidance, explore our new Widget design gallery, featuring Canonical Widget Layouts.

We can't wait to see the awesome widgets you come up with!

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

Google Play enhances widget discovery to drive engagement with your app

Posted by Yinka Taiwo-Peters – Product Manager

Android developers, we've heard you. Historically, one of the challenges with investing in widget development has been discoverability and user understanding. You've asked for better ways for users to find and utilize your widgets, and we're delivering. Google Play now offers significant enhancements to widget discovery, creating a prime opportunity to re-engage with your users on a deeper level.

We understand that the effort required to build and maintain widgets needs to be justified by user adoption, that’s why we’ve designed these key improvements, which are coming soon to Google Play on Android phones, tablets and foldables:

    • Dedicated Widgets Search Filter: Users can now directly search for apps with widgets using a dedicated filter on Google Play. This means your apps/games with widgets will be easily identified, helping drive targeted downloads and engagement.
    • New Widget Badges on App Detail Pages: We’ve introduced a visual badge on your app’s detail pages to clearly indicate the presence of widgets. This eliminates guesswork for users and highlights your widget offerings, encouraging them to explore and utilize this capability.
    • Curated Widgets Editorial Page: We're actively educating users on the value of widgets through a new editorial page. This curated space showcases collections of excellent widgets and promotes the apps that leverage them. This provides an additional channel for your widgets to gain visibility and reach a wider audience.
Three side-by-side displays of using the widget filter in Google Play Store
click to enlarge

What this means for you:

    • Increased User Engagement: Enhanced discoverability may translate to more users finding and using your widgets, leading to increased app engagement and user retention.
    • New Opportunities for User Interaction: Widgets offer a unique way to provide value and interact with users on their home screens, fostering a deeper connection with your app.
    • Renewed Investment Justification: The improved discoverability features make widget development a more viable and rewarding investment.

We encourage you to revisit your app strategy and consider the potential of widgets. With these new discovery tools, Google Play is making it easier than ever for users to find and love your widgets. Now is the time to leverage the power of widgets and enhance your Android app experience.

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.