There are many widgets available for Android, but if you mix and match them from a wide range of sources, good luck walking away with a homescreen that looks cohesive. With different widgets, each bringing their own styles, things tend to look like a mess. As a result, many of the best widgets come in bundles. These collections generally include a clock, battery, calendar, and a few other options that integrate nicely with one another. Here are some of the best options currently out for Android.
Android Pro Widgets
Android Pro Widgets provides a bunch of widgets to choose from, and if you just want a big helping of assorted doodads to play with on your homescreen, it’s a great place to start. Options range from large visual calendars and web browser bookmarks to widgets for keeping up with Facebook and Twitter. The app is free to try out, but the license key goes for $2.50.
Beautiful Widgets
Beautiful Widgets, as its name suggests, provides a number of bold, colorful widgets to choose from. It encourages users to have fun, splashing weather widgets and toggles across their homescreens however they see fit. With the included customization options, multiple people can have Beautiful Widgets installed and walk away with setups that look completely different from one another. The app is free to download, but there are some in-app purchases to keep an eye on.
DashClock
Despite how DashClock looks, it’s actually a single widget. It places clean white text and icons against the homescreen that display a wide wealth of information. Out of the box you can see email, the weather, alarms, and the like, but there are no shortage of extensions out there. With the right combination, you can track FitBit data, keep up with Hangouts messages, and see which Wi-Fi networks you’re connected to. It also has the added benefit of working on the lockscreen as well. To make things sweeter, DashClock and most of its extensions are available for free.
Fancy Widgets
Fancy Widgets hasn’t changed all that much over the past several years, so if you like Android’s old look and feel, this may be the way to go. It offers an assortment of snazzy homescreen decorations that come in many shapes and sizes. It’s not enough that you can add a clock that tells the time – you can pick from many different styles. There are widgets for the weather, naturally, as well as an option to view the current phase of the moon.
Fancy Widgets has its own marketplace that’s filled with options, so if there isn’t something here you like, keep searching. Something is bound to turn up, though many of the widgets may require the $2.59 unlock key.
HD Widgets
Similar to Beautiful Widgets, HD Widgets makes quite a bit of information and functionality available at a single glance. In addition to weather forecasts that extend out several days, the app also provides widgets for toggling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Airplane mode, and other features it’s nice to have quick access to. There are many themes to choose from and an extent of customization options. The app goes for $1.99
Conclusion
It’s possible to mix and match a few of these bundles, so feel free to experiment. While there is a certain amount of variance between each collection, some of them aren’t all that different from one another, meaning you don’t have to sacrifice much in the way of looks to get the functionality you want.
If you know of a bundle of widgets that wasn’t mentioned here, feel free to share it with us below.
Bertel is a tech blogger and independent novelist who puts perhaps a tad too much trust in Google. He’s loved Android since the moment he got his eager hands on his first device — if not sooner — and has understood the Chromebook Pixel from day one.You can follow his work at bertelking.com.
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