Google today updated its Gmail app designed for the iPhone and the iPad, introducing a new widget that can be added to the Today center alongside other widgets or to the Home Screen on an iPhone.
After updating, the Gmail widget can be added to the Home Screen by pressing and holding to enter jiggle mode and then tapping the "+" button. From there, scroll down and tap on Gmail to add the widget, using a finger to drag it to the appropriate spot.
The Gmail widget can be used to search within the Gmail app, compose a new email message, or view unread email messages. It provides shortcuts for these tasks only and does not list sensitive email information nor can it be customized with other functionality.
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates.
This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories!
Top Stories
i...
Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu.
As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Friday December 19, 2025 10:37 am PST by Juli Clover
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26.
If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
Thursday December 18, 2025 3:44 pm PST by Juli Clover
Since the AirPods Pro 3 launched, there have been complaints from users who have noticed a static-like sound or a crackling issue when using the earbuds, particularly when Active Noise Cancellation is on but no media is playing. Users have also run into strange high-pitched whistling sounds that happen intermittently.
We shared the issues back in late October, and despite two subsequent...
Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by Juli Clover
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists.
Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes.
ChatGPT can be used to...
Friday December 19, 2025 3:59 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Samsung has officially unveiled the Exynos 2600, the world's first 2 nanometer mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC), built on the company's Gate-All-Around (GAA) process. The 10-core ARM-based design aims to deliver improved performance and efficiency for flagship devices like the upcoming Galaxy S26 series.
The chip uses Arm's latest cores and supports new instructions for improved CPU speed and...
Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by Juli Clover
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond.
We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
Thursday December 18, 2025 1:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple Maps no longer offers a Flyover feature that provides users with automated tours of notable landmarks in major cities. The Flyover option appears to have been nixed around when iOS 26 launched, but its removal went largely unnoticed.
Flyover city tours were introduced in 2014 with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, using Flyover imagery to generate an aerial tour. Most cities with Flyover...
Wow - great job on a useless widget - so instead of just viewing the app icon with unread counts, or just tapping the icon to open the app and getting the same functionality, we now have the option of taking up 8 icon spaces. Awesome work Google!
Widgets have potential and I hope Apple delivers it with the next iteration. Right now they are basically huge icons.
I want widgets to be contextual, interactive, clickable and able to perform the functions of the app from the main screen without taking me to it and adding one more step to the process.
Wow - great job on a useless widget - so instead of just viewing the app icon with unread counts, or just tapping the icon to open the app and getting the same functionality, we now have the option of taking up 8 icon spaces. Awesome work Google!
well to be fair, they are pretty limited by apples widget guidelines
I remember an article from a few years ago that said "You want the best Google experience? Buy an iPhone". Exactly pointing out that for some reason Google pays much more attention to its iPhone apps than to its Android apps.
The American market is dominated by iOS, and Apple users are also the most willing to pay for apps and services, I am not coming up with this, I actually heard about it in an App Development research/teaching group.
The rest of the world uses Android, but a large proportion of those users are not paying subscribers to any type of service Google offers, so... it makes sense.
