GoKawiilMegan Ellis / Android Authority
While Google arguably has some of the best widgets out there for Android, not everyone is a fan. Some of us are looking for more privacy-focused features, or simply don’t want to stay locked into a single ecosystem. I’m right there with you.
With this in mind, here are five Android widgets I currently use daily to keep myself better organized and more. None of these widgets are from Google, and most of them are from smaller brands.
KWGT Kustom Widget Maker
KWGT Kustom Widget Maker is, without a doubt, one of my favorite customization apps out there, as it makes it extremely easy to create customized widgets.
The interface takes a little while to master, but it’s easy to get started and just mess around. Now, some of the custom widgets I’ve played with looked nice by the time I was done, but I will admit that for certain niches like battery management, I still find it better to use a battery-specific app like Ampere.
What do I use KWGT for? It changes over time, but I’ve dabbled with it to create a basic on-screen note widget, for displaying core device specs like CPU and RAM usage, to make customized clock widgets, and even linked it to Tasker for household-related automations.
If you’re a tinkerer, you’ll likely find that you will have just as much value out of messing around with the app and downloading new asset packs as you do from actually using the widgets. If you just want something that’s basic and works? KWGT is probably less your cup of tea.
Battery Widget Reborn
My Galaxy S24 is a great device, but it’s always had poor battery life, even relative to others of its own model. With that in mind, I’m very big into tracking my battery stats. There are plenty of other battery widgets out there from Google and others, but I really appreciate this one’s layout and design.
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