Personalising your phone isn’t just for teenagers anymore!

With the massive uptick in BYO devices in workplaces across the globe, widgets have moved from ‘cool’ to ‘cool and functional’. For those a bit behind, widgets are business tools, too!

Could the coolest business widget be a corporate statement at some point in the future?

Nothing is impossible, but whether android widgets ever attain that status is irrelevant.

What is important is: what’s the value?

Widgets need to facilitate a business’s daily workflow, improve business performance, or disseminate business intelligence to have commercial value.

In sum, widgets are often a “faster” version of apps, a gateway to the app itself, but one that gives shorter bursts of more relevant information. That “information” might be the most common use of the app you seek, or perhaps a different glimpse of several inputs into your phone platform that are important to you.

If mobile accessibility is as important in your working life as it is for everyone else, you can boost your efficiency with widgets.

They’re your home screen news, performance, and control overview just a quick glance or finger tap away.

It isn’t uncommon for businesses looking for IT help in London to include some widget issues in their support call these days. Widgets have real value for both employees and entrepreneurs.

What are the top android widgets for smart professionals, and why?

3 smart android widgets for work

Google Search

Always fact checking on Chrome?

The Google Search widget puts a search bar on your home screen, and - unless your android phone was made before horse-drawn carriages - it has the Google Search bar as a factory default on the home screen.

You already knew that?

So do most users, yet they often don’t know that if you just tap the microphone, you have an enabled voice search ability.

Lunchtime hands?

Tap the microphone icon to enable a voice search.

Stirring a cup of coffee that you’ve been trying to get to all morning?

Speak and multitask like a boss. Get the caffeine and intel you need!


Any.do

One of the best android widgets for to-do list management is Any.do.

Of course, anyone’s to-do list depends on their willingness to get it done, but Any.do seems to help – often , quite a lot.

Because of its simple and intuitive design, this widget works well for most users. It’s uncluttered, yet on point when it comes to collating your imperative tasks across devices and work silos. There are very few icons to understand to gain complete control of your priorities.

Overall?

It’s simple and mighty smart.

If you’d like even more functionality, for a few dollars a year you can receive location-based reminders and no restrictions on attachments. However, the free widget as is usually proves ample for most professional users.

Evernote

Evernote is still here, and greatly improved.

As a note-taking widget, it’s hard to beat. While many lists on a myriad platforms and apps are scrollable, the Evernote scrollable list options are another sweet spot for users. Partly, well - because it’s scrollable, and partly because of the widget’s design and options.

Evernote is great for reviewing a pop-your-head-in-my-door quick reminder note, or for those I’m-stuck-in-a-meeting-all-day kind of (much longer) moments. You choose what to see, what to include, and even what to include as customisation or management options.

Evernote isn’t a new app, but it’s smart, features improved functionality, and is holding its own thanks to its legitimate user value. Now highly customisable, you can tinker with themes, too.

Bonus: Rising talent app

The Ruff writing app is proving common currency amongst students, professionals, and others who prefer a more freehand or sketchpad feel to drafting. If you’re the kind of person who likes to write everything down in one place (and millions are), ruff will work for you.

With Ruff, you know everything you ever jot down can be found in one place.

For many, that structure is hard to beat.

Ruff keeps drafting simple with a perpetually scrolling screen functionality - just stay on your home screen and glide away. Using Ruff means that if you go over your notes, you’re going to find what you need. It’s there - it can’t be anywhere else.

Ruff saves onto the device by default and makes sharing snippets as simple and quick as can be. Like a jotting pad, Ruff finds itself rising in popularity because it caters magnificently to how a lot of people work. They’ll jot just the important snippet down so as not to forget to schedule or perform a task later.

Rather than use a post-It note or similar that will get lost - just do it digitally with Ruff!