The most important re-entry way for your apps: Widgets!

With Widgets, Apple decided to let you be playful with your homescreen, allowing you to declutter and get straight back in to your favorite apps.

What’s most important here is not just that Apple finally gave in and ‘copied’ Google (Android has had widgets from almost the beginning) but it’s an admission that our phones have gotten out of hand. You have too many apps! The first thing Apple did was allow you to remove icons completely, so those apps you rarely use (looking at you, Delta Airlines!) can be removed from your screen, yet still be contained in your “App Library”. If you scroll all the way over to the right, the last view is not a standard icon view but rather a list of all your apps, hidden or not.

But back to the widgets. This is all about how you wanna feel when you pick up your phone. We look at the first page of our iPhone homescreen countless hours a day. So what is it you need to see (and maybe we can help with that)? Do you want to see random memories – photos of family and friends? Well, there’s an app for that! It’s called Photos, and you probably know it already. 😉 If you add the widget, you can see curated AI-powered pics from your library. For a predictable family man like myself, it’s a joy. Give it a whirl!

What it means for App Startups: A personalized gateway back to your app! 📱👋

These new widgets bring a huge opportunity for your app business. You can now have a fully customized – and much larger – icon guiding people back to your app. But don’t just throw anything here. Provide true value. Tailor the experience….Imagine a restaurant app showing today’s specials, or a social app posting latest news or posts. Or provide an individually generated dashboard for all your users… Every app should have a widget companion and right now, there’s a goal-rush to claim the most prominent space. If you’re interested in a widget for your app, get in touch immediately. We’ll build you a widget in a week for $3,000! Let’s do this. 🚀

And now for some iOS14 inspired gifts from 3Advance! Check out the following apps that allow you to start the day more positively.

Today’s Front Pages (for The Freedom Forum)

We recently relaunched Today’s Front Pages for iPhone and Android. It’s one of our most popular apps, especially now during election season, and unfortunately during Covid when it’s important to see how the rest of the world is dealing with the pandemic. Now every morning, if you add the Front Pages iOS14 widget, your favorite newspaper will appear directly on your homescreen! This is reminiscent of how you used to start your day: a newspaper and a morning cup of joe. Begin your day again by seeing what’s going on in the world.

InstaWidgets (by 3Advance ← yes, that’s us!)

We figured we should add our own app into the mix! With InstaWidgets, you can connect your favorite Instagram account directly to your phone’s homescreen. Yes, that’s right. As soon as your bestie posts a pic to their Instagram feed, it mathemagically appears. On. Your. iPhone. You don’t even have to open the app. Use this for your kids’ daycare, your family, or even your own Instagram. You can pick an influencer, or users that motivate or inspire you. Every time they post, you see it first. Away from the app, away from the endless feed. Just what’s important.

So shake it up and make your homescreen feel like home again! Or contact us today to get your own widget.