Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I often find myself shuffling between phones — sometimes as frequently as switching handsets every week. And I make sure to replicate my home screen layout on each Android phone so that I don’t feel unfamiliar when switching and my muscle memory doesn’t act up either.
But every single one of those Android phones teases my inner urge to have everything look visually organized. When you have a bunch of widgets — all different shapes and sizes — plastered across multiple home pages, it ends up looking haphazard, no matter how much you try.
I flinch every time I glance at my home screen on Android, and that’s one big reason I dread going back to a Pixel as my primary phone.
The iPhone is known to be very controlling about how things appear on the screen, even for third-party apps and widgets. And in this case, I honestly think it’s a good thing. My home screen on the iPhone looks far more organized and pleasing to the eye just because of one feature: stacked widgets. With them, I can do a lot more on the same screen size instead of filling up ten home pages to house all my widgets.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Yes, I am a widget freak. But more than that, I’m someone who’s a sucker for clean aesthetics — and I flinch every time I glance at my home screen on Android. It’s something you stare at all day long, and that’s one big reason I dread going back to a Pixel as my primary phone — even though Android 16 has me seriously tempted.
Do you want to see stacked widgets on Pixels? 23 votes Yes 78 % No 22 %
Android vs iOS: Stacked widgets edition Stacked widgets are an ingenious way of saving space — and saving me from having to swipe through endless pages. I check traffic using the Google Maps widget twice a day and run my robot vacuum once in the morning. I do need those shortcuts, but they don’t have to be in my face all the time, right?
On my Pixel, each widget occupies a permanent spot, whether I need it at the moment or not. And the inconsistency is just jarring, with different shapes, sizes, and corner radii that turn the whole screen into visual clutter. My LG AC widget awkwardly sits in a 1×1 slot while another smart home control eats up a 2×2 grid — both doing the same thing. It’s insufferably chaotic, at least to my nit-picking eyes.
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