The Pixel Launcher widget list may soon hide most widgets behind a menu (APK teardown)
K. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is preparing to tweak the widget list in Pixel Launcher to show a filtered set of widgets by default.
- However, you will still be able to see all available widgets by clicking the button.
- It’s unclear how Pixel Launcher will determine which widgets to show and which to hide by default.
If you want to spice up or add functionality to your home screen, there are many unique Android widgets accessible. Even if your favorite Android apps don’t suggest them, you will find many apps with widgets. In fact, the sheer number of options can make it difficult to choose which ones to add. To make this easier for Pixel users, Google is preparing to tweak the Pixel Launcher so that its default widget list doesn’t show all available widgets.
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An APK parsing helps predict features that may appear in a service in the future based on unfinished code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to public release.
I’m still digging through the second developer preview. Android 16 which Google recently released, I found the following lines in the Pixel Launcher app:
Code
Show all widgets
Show all
Showing all widgets These lines suggest that a new button will be added to the Pixel Launcher widget list to display all widgets. The default list currently shows all available widgets, so this addition is intended to change in the future. Indeed, while digging into the Pixel Launcher code, I discovered a flag for a new “layered widgets” feature. This function will filter the list of default widgets and add the above button.
This “layered widgets” feature flag is not included in Android 16 DP2 or in Android 15 QPR2 beta 2where it also appears. This is why Pixel Launcher’s default widget list still shows all available widgets. I haven’t been able to manually enable this flag yet, so I don’t have any screenshots of the new “layered widgets” list. However, it is not difficult to imagine what it would look like.
WITH Android 15 Update for Pixel phones, Google has introduced widget recommendations for Pixel Launcher. The launcher now reserves space at the top of the widget list for system-recommended widgets, grouped by type, such as Social or Entertainment. It’s likely that the new view will only show these recommendations by default, so users will need to click “Show All” to see the full list.
Of course, since Google hasn’t rolled out this feature yet, it’s possible it will change before release. Personally, I’d prefer Google to adopt a two-page swipe-based widget list, e.g. Nothing OS 3.0. While I prefer swiping rather than tapping, we’ll have to wait and see Google’s final approach.
I’m also interested in Pixel Launcher’s recommendation algorithm. Some developers may object to the opaque system for determining recommended widgets, so I hope Google will provide more transparency in the filtering process.
2025-01-06 07:10:20