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How to Use and Edit the Widgets on iPad

16th September 2020

Jacob Woolcock

2:15

In this short tutorial I’ll show you how to add the brand new widgets to your iPad Homescreen by using the new Widget Browser, as well as how to customise those widgets to display the information that matters the most to you. I’ll also explain how the favourite widgets section works and how you can add as many widgets as you like to your iPad or iPhone!

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Here’s a quick look at how you can add the brand new widgets to your iPad. From the first page of apps on your Home Screen, you want to tap and hold to enter ‘Jiggle Mode’. When you’re here, you can edit your apps, and in the top left corner, there’s a Plus button. Tap onto here, and you can access the brand new Widget Browser. On here, you’ll find all the apps you’ve got installed which support the new Widgets, and if you tap onto one of them, you can see the different Widget options available. They come in different sizes, and you can choose the one that fits what you need.

These widgets are more-or-less exactly the same as the ones on your iPhone running iOS 14. The only difference here is that you can’t drag them out of the sidebar; they have to stay in that place and can’t go amongst your icons. I wasn’t keen on that at first, but actually, it keeps them nicely organised and you know where they are all the time. I think I’ll add my Calendar appointments first, and then I might add a widget for my Battery as well to keep track of my Apple Pencil and AirPods. I’ll put Music on there as well, so I can quickly jump into my music library.

You’ll notice that those widgets fill out that top, greyed-out box area. These are your Favourite Widgets which will be on screen the whole time you’re on your iPad Home Screen. You aren’t just limited to that small space, however; you can add as many Widgets as you like. To do this, press the Plus button again and then tap-and-hold to drag your widget below that grey box. Wait a moment, release, and it’ll slot into place underneath. I’ll add a Files widget on there so I can see all my recent Files, and of course, I could add anything I like there. As more apps come out, more widgets will be available as well.

You can see that my old style widgets are still at the bottom, so while you’re waiting for new Widgets to come out, you can still use them if you want to. And the other great thing with the new Widgets is that you can customise them to a certain extent. For example, on my Reminders list, I actually want to see all my YouTube video ideas, so if I tap-and-hold on there, I can select Edit Widget, and this one will let me choose which Reminders list I show. Different Widgets have different options, which means different possibilities for you and your iPad.

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