Microsoft engineer Jorge Peraza calls mobile phone widgets a ‘portable chunk of the web’. Further, he awarded widget as a rich internet application. Top one million sites were surveyed and Google Font API stands at the top with 11% in the widget world. Windows mobile widgets like Live Tiles is a good product but from years, windows could give only one update i.e. cheseable live Tiles, nothing much enhancement. Whereas android launches updates at regular time intervals, so users are kept stick to the widgets.

Here in this article, we will have a glance at extra effects of widgets. Then we will touch the mobile widgets development area. And at last, we will analyze windows Live Tiles with android widgets.

Widgets bring extra effects in windows and android mobile development.

Take an example of a weather widget on a mobile phone, without unlocking the phone, a user gets easy updates on a weather. Users utilize widgets for a personalized experience and the business person provides widgets so that user can reach to their personal websites. Social media’s emergence had hit the widget development in a very demanding way.

Google keep reminds you of your task with because it throws hanging on the screen effect. One cannot ignore it. So a task list is the one which should appear like a screen saver and helps in an ease. So Widget shows information on the face of the screen. The calendar widget is needed instantly without clicking on it. Widgets keep you updated with relevant information. Windows quote of the day widget appears and changes automatically.

Some smart mobile phones have inbuilt battery saver widgets. In 4G phones itself, turn on and turn off battery switch happens automatically. The user doesn’t have to intervene battery saving, it prompts the user with automated features. This kind of battery saver widgets is available in the notification bar of the smartphone. Dashclock is an app which checks emails, voicemails, SMSs, battery stats, IMs in one step only, so a battery can be optimally used. So we can say that widgets don’t only eat battery but save too.

Mobile screens are not small nowadays. There remains much space which is not occupied. Mobile widgets utilize unoccupied space. Even if your mobile phone has 100 apps installed, plenty of spaces can be covered by widgets.

An app can be seen one at a time, but with widgets case is different. One can have a glance at many widgets at the same time. One can have a look at emails, calendars, notes or weather information without touching the phone.

Ways of windows and android mobile widget development have changed a bit!

In earlier days, slow networks and less RAM used to make the widgets unworthy. But now when the scenario is changed, with more robust networks and 2 GB RAM, whole perspective to look at widgets is changed. Let’s check some android and windows widgets which gave a good flavor to the mobile experience.

Stand-alone widgets don’t have a parent application. They act like an application only. Click on a user and widgets occupy an entire screen space. Google’s search widget is an example of a stand-alone widget.

Adjunct to app widgets are those who serve as the second interface of a parent app. Facebook widget is an example of this kind.

Android and Windows mobile widget development are achieved through AJAX, JavaScript, CSS and HTML with the browser supported by flash and ActiveX controls. Widgets can come with own menu icon so that multiple functionalities can also be accessed by users. Nowadays, many tools are available in the market with friendly coding. HostBaby lets you drag, drop, add your picture, text, code etc. Customization and modification of the widgets are easy in such tools.

Windows Live Tiles vs. Android widgets, who wins at present?

Android comes with many features but windows are still in the race. Windows Live Tiles has greedily attracted mobile users because of its strong presence on desktops. Users are habituated and comfortable with desktop windows experience. Many users asked for the same experience in mobile. And thus windows mobile widget Live Tiles took a birth in smartphone markets, too.

The essence of Live Tiles is its central notification system. Live Tiles are just linked for the custom application. Live Tiles fit very well with the homes screen and don’t break the GUI. Widgets can interact with the application. Its notification system is better than windows.

Widgets are separate entities as they have their own allocated RAM and CPU usage. Live Tiles falls into home screen space allocation, so the bandwidth is not drained in this manner and other apps get the chances of accuracy in an increasing manner. But today’s smartphone comes with larger RAM and more processing efficiency. So this memory and CPU allocation doesn’t make a sense relatively.

Live Tiles updates after every 30 minutes. Battery usage optimization and live information features lack behind. Widgets are constantly connected with networks, so the freshness of the content can be guaranteed.

Widgets are available in all sizes and shapes. Widgets provide more contents than Live Tiles. Many widgets come with button feature which let user refresh, add or create or any designed customized function.

Summary

Of course, so many people are windows fan and they want anything but windows. But the regular updates in windows widgets would only make them survive in the race. At other side, android widgets have captured the market with precise and updated features. Windows mobile widget development doesn’t provide as much as ease as android does.