This iPhone feature is keeping me from switching back to a Pixel

I usually discover myself shuffling between telephones — typically as steadily as switching handsets each week. And I be sure that to duplicate my residence display format on every Android cellphone in order that I don’t really feel unfamiliar when switching and my muscle reminiscence doesn’t act up both.

However every single one of those Android phones teases my internal urge to have all the pieces look visually organized. When you could have a bunch of widgets — all completely different sizes and shapes — plastered throughout a number of residence pages, it finally ends up wanting haphazard, regardless of how a lot you attempt.

The iPhone is known to be very controlling about how issues seem on the display, even for third-party apps and widgets. And on this case, I actually suppose it’s a great factor. My residence display on the iPhone seems much more organized and pleasing to the attention simply due to one characteristic: stacked widgets. With them, I can do much more on the identical display measurement as an alternative of filling up ten residence pages to deal with all my widgets.

Sure, I’m a widget freak. However greater than that, I’m somebody who’s a sucker for clear aesthetics — and I flinch each time I look at my residence display on Android. It’s one thing you stare in any respect day lengthy, and that’s one large motive I dread going again to a Pixel as my main cellphone — regardless that Android 16 has me seriously tempted.

Android vs iOS: Stacked widgets version

Stacked widgets are an ingenious approach of saving area — and saving me from having to swipe via infinite pages. I test site visitors using the Google Maps widget twice a day and run my robotic vacuum as soon as within the morning. I do want these shortcuts, however they don’t need to be in my face on a regular basis, proper?

On my Pixel, every widget occupies a everlasting spot, whether or not I would like it in the mean time or not. And the inconsistency is simply jarring, with completely different shapes, sizes, and nook radii that flip the entire display into visible muddle. My LG AC widget awkwardly sits in a 1×1 slot whereas one other sensible residence management eats up a 2×2 grid — each doing the identical factor. It’s insufferably chaotic, at the very least to my nit-picking eyes.

As compared, my residence display setup on the iPhone 16 Pro Max seems cleaner and calming to my nerves. All my sensible residence merchandise are stacked right into a single widget — whether or not it’s an LG gadget or a no-name sensible plug. I simply scroll via the stack to search out the one I’m on the lookout for. The identical goes for my search stack. I use multiple search and AI tools — Google, Perplexity, and ChatGPT — and I can cycle via them to begin an instantaneous search with out every one individually hogging display area.

Extra importantly, I can flip these into sensible stacks — one thing iPhones have dealt with effectively even earlier than AI turned a cool buzzword. My cellphone now surfaces the world clock widget on the identical time every day earlier than I name my family members midway the world over, whereas the inventory market widget quietly disappears after the night frenzy checks throughout a market crash.

That’s to not say Apple’s implementation is flawless. As an illustration, I want Apple would supply a smaller measurement (say a 2×1 grid, vertically or horizontally), particularly for widgets that solely want a single faucet. However nonetheless, there’s a lot worth in stacked widgets that I didn’t absolutely grasp till I had them — and now I simply need Google to deliver its personal model to Pixels.

What would Pixels have to do?

Stacked widgets could look easy, however on Android, they’d be a ache to implement, principally due to fragmentation. Google would wish to take up the herculean activity of aligning its hundreds of thousands of builders to make widgets in standardized sizes. However even that gained’t remedy all the pieces, as a result of Android helps you to customise grid sizes on your own home display, which complicates issues additional.

Frankly, if Google hasn’t been capable of get app builders to adopt themed app icons — with many nonetheless stubbornly clinging to their colourful logos — I’m not too assured it will possibly pull off common widget sizing, at the very least quickly sufficient.

However there’s nonetheless hope. Third-party builders have discovered workarounds, which makes me consider I’m not the one one pissed off by this hole.

Your present choices

In terms of Android, I’m married to Pixel telephones for his or her clear (learn: superior) expertise and day-one OS updates. So I would like stacked widgets on my Pixel by default, with out resorting to launchers or UI hacks.

However for those who aren’t as cussed as I’m, you’ve received loads of choices. Samsung added native help for stacked widgets a couple of One UI variations in the past — so technically, Android has had this characteristic for some time now. It’s simply the Pixel that’s lacking in motion.

And others aren’t solely out of luck both. You can install third-party launchers like Action, Smart Launcher, or Niagara to get a stacked widget expertise that I’ve been craving on Pixels. Simply know that almost all of those options solely allow you to stack equally sized widgets — or stretch them awkwardly to suit, leading to zoomed-in content material or extreme padding. So these options are removed from good, however they’re nonetheless higher than nothing.

Till that occurs, I’ll preserve sighing each time I swipe previous the visible mess on my Pixel whereas quietly having fun with the neat order on my iPhone.