Following the recent popularity of homescreen widgets after their launch on iOS, Android 12 is showing some love to the operating system’s long-standing widgets system, including a new menu, forced rounded corners, and more.
With Android 12 Developer Preview 3, Google has made quite a few changes to the widget system. The most noticeable change affecting your existing widgets is that widgets on the Android home screen now have rounded corners, just like all the rest in Android 12.
The effect is most pronounced with widgets that were previously square or rectangular, such as those from Gmail and Google Keep. In the case of Gmail, Android 12’s adaptation to the widget is almost imperceptible, giving it a card-like look that appears intentional. For Google Keep, which has no padding at all, the forced rounded corners create a jagged edge in the widget’s design.
Meanwhile, the experience of adding widgets to your home screen has also been given a revamp in Android 12 Developer Preview 3, with a brand new menu complete with a search bar. Below the search bar you will now find a few personalized widget recommendations. As you would probably guess, the new widget list also features prominent rounded corners in the user interface.
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Similarly, the more specialized list of just the widgets of a particular app has also been updated with Android 12 DP3. The view is now a bit more condensed and generally cleaner.
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