iPhone Widgets

iPhone widgets are mini iPhone applications that run as a second layer on top of your iPhone OS. They allow quick access to many useful data and information while the current iPhone app is still running.

You must have a jailbroken iPhone to be able to install widgets. An iPhone jailbreak is required in order to install the widget executer from Cydia, and to be able to copy widgets from the internet to your iPhone widget directory.

What are widgets?

The best way to explain widgets is by looking at an Apple Mac computer dashboard widgets. On a Mac, if you press the F12 button, you activate a layer called Dashboard on your screen that can have many little applications called widgets.

Widgets on the Mac are small applications that could be a calculator, a clock, a calendar, a sticky note and many more. If you press the F12 button one more time, the widgets will disappear and return back to where you left on your screen. The same concept apply to widgets on the iPhone.

You can download and choose from thousands of widgets for almost any category you are looking for including games. Watch this amazing video about widgets and dashboard for iPhone.

Where to Download iPhone widgets?

The Apple website is the best place to download widgets for both Apple Computers and iPhone. The website is very organized and categorized nicely just like a mini App Store specialized for widgets.

Most widgets are freeware, while others cost some money. iPhone widgets have the same concept as Mac widgets, and with some clever widgets executers on the iPhone, you can run the same Mac widget on the iPhone which opens another door of thousands of mini iPhone applications.

How to run and install iPhone widgets?

Just like widgets on the Apple Computer, widgets for the iPhone or iPhone 4 can run on top of any currently running iPhone application. giving you a second layer of mini applications.

To run iPhone widgets, you will need a widget executer that can read those widgets such as Crazy Dashboard or iDashboard from Cydia.

Those widget executers can run either from the home screen by tapping on an iPhone icon or by assigning it to one of the available iPhone buttons.

For example, you can activate the widget menu by double pressing on the home button or pressing and holding the home button. You can even assign the power button to start widgets with the use of some iPhone hacks such as Activator or QuickDo, which allow you to assign a gestures to execute CrazyDashboard to start widgets.

Widgets executers such as CrazyDashboard and iDashbard are iPhone hacks that can be installed through Cydia and allow you to add widgets.

Widgets could either be iPhone specific from Cydia or downloaded Mac dashboard widgets from the Apple website. Once you copy those widgets to the widgets directory on your iPhone, you will see them when you open CrazyDashboard or iDashboard.

You can move a widget around the iPhone screen. For example, with CrazyDashboard, you can tap the blue button at the top left corner of the widget and move it around as shown below.

To add a new iPhone widget, you can tap the + button at the bottom left corner, and all available widgets on the iPhone will show up. Then, you can drag the widget from the dock to the iPhone screen in a similar fashion as installing an Apple Computer widget. Also, you can scroll left and right to see more available widgets which is very similar to how widgets work on a Mac computer.

Visit the PC to iPhone page to learn how to copy files and widgets from your Mac or PC to your iPhone.

Advantages of iPhone Widgets:

The beauty of widgets is that you can run them at any time without quitting or minimizing the currently running iPhone application. They just pop on top of whatever iPhone application you are running.

When you are done, they disappear, and you are back to exactly where you left the last app.

They take very little space, iPhone memory and they serve a specific purpose. They start almost instantly and quickly give you the information you are looking for being weather information, a calculator, date information or many more.

Disadvantages of iPhone widgets:

• Not all Mac widget will work on the iPhone, you have to try and see for yourself which widget works, and which ones are suitable for the iPhone touch screen as they are designed to be used with a mouse.
  
  
• A widget window could be bigger than the iPhone screen, and won't display correctly.
  
  
• Widgets for the iPhone or iPhone 4 require jailbreaking, and full access to the iPhone file system to be able to copy files from PC to iPhone.

iPhone Cydgets:

Cydgets are another type of iPhone Widgets which add more iPhone customization to the lock screen. Cydgets do all their magic at the iPhone lock screen. So instead of having the normal Apple lock screen, you can install Cydgets that customize the lock screen in many different ways.

There are so many cydgets available in Cydia. You will need a Cydia application called Cydget which is free. Then you can add as many Cydgets as you want after that. You can then go to iPhone Settings and then Cydgets to access all your installed Cydgets.

If you want to enable any of those iPhone widgets, simply tap on it to put a check mark next to it. Then you will be asked to respring your iPhone. When the iPhone starts, your lock screen will display the first widget in the list. Now, you can cycle between the iPhone widgets by pressing the home button once. Every time you press the home button, a new iPhone cydget starts and so on.

Cydgets like widgets give you quick access to little iPhone applications and add iPhone customization to your lock screen. For example, you can add your favorite contacts to your lock screen with CyDialer. Then once you turn on your iPhone you can tap on your contact to call.

With some iPhone widgets, you can display the weather information right on your lock screen. Every time you turn on the iPhone, you see the live weather update. You can add Twitter, Facebook with iFacebook Cydget, LinkedIn or even games like TicTacToe.

You can even install Google + widget which allows you to access all google applications including you gmail account right on your iPhone lock screen. Cydgets, allow you to turn your iPhone lock screen into a fully functional screen just like any other home screen by adding iPhone icons to it. The level of iPhone customization with Cydgets and iPhone widgets are unlimited.

The only problem with Cydget is compatibility with other iPhone hacks and widgets. You have to be a little careful, and you have to try and see which cydget work best with your iPhone combination of widgets, and other iPhone hacks.

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