Your home screen widgets in iOS 17 have gained a lot of new power in this update, and they’re actually now completely interactive. So, at the moment while I’m making this video, it’s just like our first-party Apple apps that are working, but by the time you watch it, and in weeks and months to come, all of the apps that you use will start updating with this new feature. So, what exactly do I mean by interactive widgets? Well, I can add a new widget just like I could do before: tap and hold the home screen, press the plus button, and then search for the app you want. I’ll grab a music widget quickly and put that on as well.

But now, all of these widgets, rather than just opening the app, are actually fully interactive. And so, because these are now interactive, I can literally interact with them on the home screen without having to open any app at all. So, in the HomeKit app in the top corner, I can turn the fan on and turn the light in my office on, just from the home screen by tapping those buttons. On the reminders list, I can tick an item off just by pressing the circle, and it’s gone. I haven’t got to open the whole app and go through the whole process. On the music player, I can press play, I can press pause, just like you’d expect.

Of course, I can still open up the app just like before by tapping onto the main body of the widget, like the empty space or the main text, and that will open the app just like it would do before iOS 17. But having this new feature just means speeding up a lot of interactions with your phone because you haven’t got to go to the apps anymore.

And I hope that this video will help you complete my last task by subscribing down below. But if you need a little bit more encouragement, check out the end screen where you’ll find a playlist full of videos sharing more things that iOS 17 can now do. And if you do like these videos, please do subscribe down below; that way, you won’t miss any in the future.