Feature Requests • Widgets
You can add a widget underneath the clock, replace the clock with a custom widget, and add widgets to the app—as well as folder pop-ups.
Each option can also be replaced with a widget stack, which lets you scroll through multiple widgets while staying true to Niagara's design philosophies.
How we track requests
We track feature requests and bug reports on GitHub. However, we have decided to mention important GitHub issues here briefly.
On this page, you will find common feature requests and our stance on them in a condensed form. On GitHub, we mirror this article without our thoughts: [Collection] Widgets.
Also, we categorize these requests for our and our users' convenience:
- ✅ Added
- 🚧 Currently being worked on
- 📝 Planned
- 💬 In discussion
- ❌ Not planned
Common feature requests
❌ Widget page
We aren't fans of dedicated widget pages. Since the only thing items on a widget page have in common is that they are all widgets, we feel they should be separate. They are missing a shared semantic.
The concept of a widget list or page encourages users to cluster the page with widgets. As they often use a lot of RAM, this leads to a loss in performance. A swipe menu shows only a single widget at once, so not every widget has to be loaded into RAM when you want to access one.
💬 More items in the widget stack
Currently, it is possible to stack up to four widgets. We understand the desire to remove or increase this limit. However, it is important to note that widgets can consume significant phone resources, potentially leading to performance and stability issues.
Currently, we do not plan to offer the option to remove this limit. Nevertheless, we may consider increasing the limit in future updates.
📝 Niagara's default clock inside widget stacks
While this seems like a good idea, creating a widget for the clock is a lot of work and is currently not a priority.
You can use a custom widget as the clock if you want a clock in the widget stack (Custom clock).
💬 Widget interaction for elements covered by the alphabet scroller
Some widgets require a lot of space and might overlap with the alphabet scroller on the right side. This is not an issue for widgets that do not offer buttons to click on their right-hand side. However, if they have those buttons, the alphabet scroller takes priority when tapping them, leading to unwanted behavior. While we want to support widgets, we have yet to find a satisfying solution to decide which elements should be prioritized when tapped.