The Pixel Launcher desperately needs widget stacks

Android widgets are in a good place right now, thanks to Material You. Besides a slight improvement from Android 12, they look modern and offer features that complement the full app well. However, for the experience to really shine on the Pixel, Google needs to add the ability to stack and group widgets so you can access a lot more without taking up too much of your home screen. Size is their only drawback, and integrating a widget often comes at the expense of app icons.

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Swiping up and down to browse the widgets would be the ideal gesture so as not to interfere with access (left/right) to the different home screens.

The ideal implementation would provide the ability to have Android automatically rotate between the most relevant widget in the stack based on various contextual cues. Basically, apply the app suggestions that Pixel Launcher already offers when you leave an empty spot in your Favorites tray/dock, which some people use religiously despite the trend towards duplicate icons, stacks of widgets.

iOS has a pretty good implementation of “Smart Rotate”. For example, I have a stack with the Fitness (Apple Watch activity rings) and Sleep (nighttime chart) widgets. When I wake up, my iPhone shows last night’s sleep before switching to three rings for most of the day. He returns to sleep a few hours before bedtime. The iPhone goes further with “widget suggestions” which brings up Home screen objects you haven’t added, which is great for discovery and has actually proven useful.

On Android, I’d like to stack now-playing controls for YouTube Music and Pocket Casts, as well as Calendar Scheduling and Google To-Do List widgets. Google Keep Quick Capture and Drive Quick Action would also be great. Another interesting pairing would be to have multiple weather widgets for different cities, while Google Photos galleries could also benefit from something similar.

Since we’re talking about widgets, Google needs to revisit the Conversations widget. If Android doesn’t try to make this work anymore, I think Google Messages should have something similar and more dedicated. (Same with the Phone app and recent calls.) For now, it’s Conversations or using Google Contacts widgets.

Android widgets on ChromeOS could also be interesting. I’m not entirely sold on macOS’s current implementation of widgets in the Notification Center side panel or on the desktop, but I have fond memories of the Mac OS X original. Implementing the dashboard which came as a layer/overlay.