What's New in widgets

Generated on 8/12/2024

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In the recent WWDC, Apple introduced several new features for widgets, particularly focusing on interactivity and relevance. Here are some of the key updates:

  1. Interactive Widgets: Widgets can now include multiple interactive areas, allowing users to perform actions directly from the widget without opening the app. This feature is available across iOS, macOS, and now watchOS. For example, a home widget can let users lock or unlock their door directly from the widget.

  2. Accessory Widget Group Layout: This new layout allows for more information and interactivity by accommodating up to three separate views within a single widget. It supports deep linking to different parts of your app and includes button and toggle initializers for actions.

  3. Relevant Widgets: Widgets can now specify relevant contexts, such as time of day or location, to appear in the smart stack at the most useful times. This makes the smart stack more actionable and intelligent.

  4. Customization Options: Developers can customize the appearance of widgets using view modifiers for background and foreground styles, and specify the masking shape of content views.

  5. Live Activities on watchOS: iOS-based live activities now automatically appear on Apple Watch, enhancing the glanceability and interactivity of widgets.

For more detailed information, you can refer to the sessions:

These sessions provide a comprehensive overview of the new capabilities and improvements in widgets across Apple's platforms.