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What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do?

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  What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do? Andrew <andrew@spam.net> - 2024-07-06 18:17 +0000
    Re: What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2024-07-06 22:22 +0200
      Re: What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-07-06 22:25 +0200
      Re: What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do? Andrew <andrew@spam.net> - 2024-07-06 22:51 +0000

#142531 — What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not do?

What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not
do?

In a recent thread on weather app icons, I suggested one-tap shortcuts to
public Android Activities - which Muntashirakon App Manager easily creates
but which very many other apps also create, as shown below for the creation
of a single-tap shortcut to the reset-advertising-ID setting deep inside
the Android settings. <https://i.postimg.cc/P5d7kxgc/shortcut26.jpg>

In that prior thread, I mused about the possible difference between widgets
versus one-tap homescreen shortcuts to internal activities within an app.

Is there a difference?

What does a widget do that a one-tap shortcut to the Activity doesn't do?

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#142533

Andrew, 2024-07-06 20:17:

> What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not
> do?

Display changing content. A widget is not just there to handle taps.

[...]
> In that prior thread, I mused about the possible difference between widgets
> versus one-tap homescreen shortcuts to internal activities within an app.
> 
> Is there a difference?
> 
> What does a widget do that a one-tap shortcut to the Activity doesn't do?

It can display content and can take up much more space than a single icon.

-- 
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

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#142534

On 2024-07-06 22:22, Arno Welzel wrote:
> Andrew, 2024-07-06 20:17:
> 
>> What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not
>> do?
> 
> Display changing content. A widget is not just there to handle taps.

Right.

And it can react differently to taps on different areas of the widget.

For example, a widget can display weather and time. tapping left or 
right takes you to the weather app or to the clock app.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.

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#142538

Arno Welzel wrote on Sat, 6 Jul 2024 22:22:13 +0200 :

>> What does a Widget do that a one-tap shortcut to an Android Activity not
>> do?
> 
> Display changing content. A widget is not just there to handle taps.

Ah. Yes. I think I remember seeing that. 
For example, for a weather app, the widget can display changing temperature
on the icon itself. I remember also that I had a charging widget once,
because my cable kept falling out of the damaged port so I needed to know
if it was charging at any given moment.

Here, for example, are my tests of charging direction widgets long ago:
 <https://i.postimg.cc/qvHYTf3L/charging01.jpg> Huge charging indicators
 <https://i.postimg.cc/cL7z1D7N/charging02.jpg> Customizable sound alert
 <https://i.postimg.cc/CKFQRjJn/charging03.jpg> All sorts of indicators
 <https://i.postimg.cc/jSX2j0Mj/charging04.jpg> Tested many battery apps
 <https://i.postimg.cc/sXBgKBsB/charging05.jpg> Usage & predictive graphs
 <https://i.postimg.cc/8CCjC1VT/charging06.jpg> Big percentage indicators
 <https://i.postimg.cc/yNrWgwVc/charging07.jpg> Everything you'd want
 <https://i.postimg.cc/gchrjS1L/charging08.jpg> Resize widgets to taste
 <https://i.postimg.cc/9fSngSyH/charging09.jpg> Charging settings & chimes
 <https://i.postimg.cc/Hs8srGDF/charging10.jpg> 4 hour slow charge
 <https://i.postimg.cc/W1D9dNqw/charging11.jpg> Fastcharge in about 2 hrs
 <https://i.postimg.cc/T1CkDhcC/charging12.jpg> Fastcharge in about 2 hrs
 <https://i.postimg.cc/zGvhGxSb/charging13.jpg> Fastcharge in 2-1/4 hours
 <https://i.postimg.cc/FK7RLSby/charging14.jpg> Multi-port USB chargers
 <https://i.postimg.cc/W1rgxwNB/charging15.jpg> Fastcharge in 2-3/4 hours 
 <https://i.postimg.cc/PJ2G9HsG/charging16.jpg> New battery settings
 <https://i.postimg.cc/tCHNgt40/charging17.jpg> Android 12 Battery Settings
 <https://i.postimg.cc/SR9dvgQd/charging18.jpg> Stop charging at 85%

>> In that prior thread, I mused about the possible difference between widgets
>> versus one-tap homescreen shortcuts to internal activities within an app.
>> 
>> Is there a difference?
>> 
>> What does a widget do that a one-tap shortcut to the Activity doesn't do?
> 
> It can display content and can take up much more space than a single icon.

Yeah. It can display content. That's the nice thing. Like charge status.

The bad thing is they tend to be huge, and only some can be downsized,
although almost never to the size of the icon (as I recall from long ago).

Thanks for reminding me of the difference between widgets and shortcuts.
Much appreciated.

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