One of my favourite things about the iPhone 14 Pro is its Lock Screen: the always-on display features the same widgets as other iPhones running iOS 16, but they’re always there for fast access and instant info. At first they were primarily an Apple affair, but the number of third-party widgets is increasing by the day – and now Google's getting in on the act with a selection of really useful widgets for those of us who don't use Apple apps for everything.
Google announced the widgets last month but they've started to roll out today. The Google Maps one isn't here yet, which is mildly annoying as that's the one I want most for my Driving focus Lock Screen, but there are plenty of others to stick on your Lock Screen.
What new widgets does Google offer on the iPhone?
Last week updated the Chrome and Drive apps with new widgets, and this week's ones add widgets for some of the most-used Google apps including Gmail and Google News. The Gmail widget comes in circular, rectangular and inline text formats so you can get the information you want in the style that you want it.
The Google News widget is slightly different, as it's only available as a rectangular widget to display a single news headline; tap on it and your iPhone will take you to that story in the Google News app. I'm not a huge fan of news widgets as they tend to show stories I'm not remotely interested in.
There's no dedicated Search widget yet, but you can use the Chrome widget as a workaround: one of its widgets enables you to search Google in Chrome. And if you're bored you can launch Chrome's famous Dino Game, which usually turns up on the desktop Chrome browser when your internet connection's packed in. But the search widget should be worth waiting for: as Google showed us last month, it'll enable you to configure the widget to search with voice or camera rather than text.
Google hasn't given us a release date for these widgets yet but the pace of the other releases suggest it's a matter of days or weeks rather than months.
-
YouTube’s TV app just got a great free upgradeThe YouTube TV app for consoles and Smart TVs is now more functional and fun for music fans too
-
Samsung's flagship phones will reportedly maintain one key advantage over iPhone for the foreseeableApple is said to be struggling to match Samsung in a specific tech area
-
First foldable iPhone could be Apple's most eye-wateringly expensive everThere's a big problem facing Apple
-
Your discontinued Chromecast just got a massive feature updateThe Chromecast might not be on sale any more, but Google hasn’t abandoned it
-
Pixel phones finally getting a feature Samsung Galaxy owners have enjoyed for yearsA future software update could make the Pixel more user friendly
-
New Apple Vision Pro tipped for early 2026, but might not be what you expectThe second generation Vision Pro may not be the game-changing model you're hoping for
-
If the iPhone 17 Pro adds these 4 new features I'm already soldApple needs to make a big swing
-
Apple reportedly preparing the iPhone 17e alreadyBut it sounds like an odd launch window
