Google has now rolled out all of the promised Lock Screen widgets for its iPhone apps, including the Google app, Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, Google News, and Google Drive.
The rollout was completed today with two Lock Screen widgets for Maps, following five widgets for the Google app that were released on Wednesday. In version 233.0 of the Google app, the widgets include the following descriptions, with two widget sizes for Search:
Search: Access Google Search from your Lock Screen
Voice Search: Ask a question, hum a song or search for content with your voice
Lens: Search with your camera or any image
Lens shortcuts: Easily access your favorite Lens feature. Translate, shop, or solve homework with your camera.
Version 6.40 of Google Maps adds widgets for Search and Frequent Trips, with the latter displaying the location, estimated time of arrival, and traffic conditions:
Frequent Trips: Get directions and an estimated time of arrival for your frequent trips.
Search: Search in Google Maps for restaurants, petrol stations, and more.
Equivalent widgets can be found in Google News, Gmail, Drive, and Chrome. Once the apps are updated on your device, launch the new versions first before trying to add the widgets, otherwise they won't appear in the Lock Screen editor.
Tuesday April 14, 2026 4:39 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Wednesday April 15, 2026 8:15 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
Thursday March 19, 2026 1:03 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Google is developing a native Gemini app for the Mac, reports Bloomberg. Right now, Mac users who want to use Google's Gemini AI have to use a web browser, but that will change with a dedicated Mac app.
Google competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI have dedicated Mac apps for their chatbots, potentially making Claude and ChatGPT more convenient to use than Gemini.
Google shared an early...
Wednesday March 25, 2026 9:53 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple has full access to Gemini to customize the model for Siri and other AI features, reports The Information. Google gave Apple "complete access" to the Gemini model in its own data centers, and Apple can use the access for distillation, or creating smaller models for specific tasks. Apple is able to design models that are built to run on Apple devices without the need to connect to the...
Wednesday March 25, 2026 10:00 am PDT by Juli Clover
Google today said that Android has set a new record for mobile web performance, making it the fastest mobile platform for web browsing.
The newest Android devices have set new records on web performance benchmarks like Speedometer and LoadLine, which Google attributes to "deep vertical integration across hardware, the Android OS, and the Chrome engine."
Speedometer simulates real-world...
I wish apple allocated more space to widgets . Since they hide notifications by default anyway,why not allow the widgets to get further to the bottom ?
I wish apple allocated more space to widgets . Since they hide notifications by default anyway,why not allow the widgets to get further to the bottom ?
Yeah, it would be nice to be able to use more widgets. If Apple wants to keep it to one row to make it the "clean" look, maybe at least let have pages for widgets (like the Home Screen) or stacks (like widgets on the home/today screen) that we can swipe through. Swiping would be done just in the widget area so we don't affect access to the camera or today screens.
Looks cool but I realized quickly that I do not spent much time on the Lockscreen and therefore I have deactivated all my widgets again. I guess it makes more sense on an iPhone 14 Pro with an Always On screen or if you do not have an Apple Watch.
If I did use them, I hope Apple will allow more customisations on iOS 17. Maybe a carusel to easily flip between MORE widgets? I also find the limited arrangement of the widgets somewhat ugly, especially when you only have one widget enabled. I wish it could be placed in the center.
I wish apple allocated more space to widgets . Since they hide notifications by default anyway,why not allow the widgets to get further to the bottom ?
Agreed. Since we have the option for stackable notifications at the bottom; Wish you could either toggle on more rows, or change grid size to allow larger widgets.