Add, remove and configure Widgets

Mission:

Learn to use Widgets in /e/OS.

Widgets offer you with quick access to information without requiring you to keep a given app open that manages this information. For example when you swipe to the left from home-screen, a Weather widget is added thereto by default as seen in the image below. It is an information widget.

Prerequisites:

  • A phone with /e/OS

Let’s roll.

1. Swipe left from home-screen to access Widgets Menu

Tap ‘Edit’ to open Widgets Menu.

2. Adding a Widget and related settings

Tap ‘ADD WIDGET’ to open the list of available Widgets. Select one to add it.

For the purpose of this guide, we are opting ‘Mail Message List’

It is a hybrid ‘Collection Widget’, with it you get to only browser your inbox but also, compose a new mail by tapping on the top-right icon on the Widget.

Tap on the tile of any Widget to resize it with a slider as seen in the image below.

Tap on top-right gears like icon of some widgets to open specific widget settings. For example, image below shows Weather widget settings.

Before you add multiple widgets of any type i.e. information, collection or hybrid. Understand that widgets have their own limitations and are not mini-apps by any means.

3. Removing a Widget

Navigate to Widgets Menu as shown above, tap on the round ‘Red’ icon to the right of a widget to remove it.

.

That’s it. It should remove immediately from the list.

Thanks for reading!

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

1 Like

Hello

Thank you for your explanations!
Could you also please explain how to remove the pre-installed widgets like the one suggesting apps?

3 Likes

+1 here. I don’t need weather widget, will never need “suggested apps”, and no not want “research” field. They take much place on this panel. Please tell us how to remove them, at least with an adb command ?

2 Likes

+1. Is it possible to remove preinstalled widgests ?
Thanks !

3 Likes

With adb it’s possible. All explained in post 6 :

@kikislater no. That removes the app. But not the widget, that is still here. It’s “empty”, but it is still there and takes much place on the screen

1 Like

Even with this ?

Now the /e/ weather app and icon is removed.
If the icon is still visible, you can→ clear BlissLauncher cache .

@kikislater yes, even with clearing BlissLauncher cache.
I have to admit I had missed that point, because the app and icon have disappeared instantaneously after adb removing. Now I’ve cleared BlissLauncher cache, even rebooted the phone. Widget is still there.

Try to track it in “Autostarts” app from f-droid store.

I don’t know sorry !

The inability to remove/hide/minimize/move away weather widget was one of the biggest surprises for a newcomer to /e/ from Sailfish OS. I live in country where nobody cares about weather :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: please remove this Euro-centric weather business away for a global audience. :pray:

3 Likes

I’ll +1 as well. I love being de-googled, and I like the clean UI, but that widget page hurts my OCD. Both the terrible weather that doesn’t work in the US and the search/suggestion bar redundancy (same as home screen down swipe menu)

Also wouldn’t hurt to have an option to hide icons of all unused system default apps.

1 Like

+1 as well: I absolutely agree. I don’t need anything that is appearing on this panel: I don’t need the weather widget as I’m using another weather app, I don’t need the search bar nor I don’t need the app suggestions panel too.
If the UI could be revamped in that way it would be absolutely awesome! :slightly_smiling_face:

Furthermore, when I try to add a new widget by clicking the “edit” button, I come up with a list of apps but the one I want to add a widget for doesn’t show up, whereas I know this particular app does have some widgets as I’ve been using them with regular Google Android OS before I switch to /e/ OS.

Any idea why that? It’s weird.

+1 I don’t need widgets like App Suggestions(absolutely useless to me) and Weather, so I agree with everyone here. Beside that, very nice de-googled OS and clean UI

2 Likes

+1 And I would like to add the (not so new) idea to have control over EVERY preinstalled peace. One of the main reasons I switched away from the Standard-OS on my phone was to have a far better control about my phone. And know I have very close topics with preinstalled (and neither needed nor wanted) apps, widgets, …you name it… , preinstalled on my phone.

This is a MAJOR disappointment (to me!) about /e/

Just MY 2 ct.

+1
Same as above !
We move for privacy but also for control …

1 Like

I don’t quite get the direction of some comments here.

There’s always room for improvement, and suggesting improvements for the preinstalled Bliss launcher is fine, maybe even necessary in the case of Bliss (I don’t use it), but that you don’t like something about it doesn’t rob you of any kind of control.

Just install a different launcher which suits your needs, that’s the Android way of handling this, that’s why there are so many different launchers out there.

And if you then don’t like Bliss still being there in your system while you don’t use it, just uninstall it the Android way.

You are in control, you just need to exercise it.

4 Likes

Nice ! Looking for it since long time. Notes is buggy, I prefer Nextcloud notes, I succeed in removing it. Thank you

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It looks that more people here are not happy with the weather widget, app suggestion widget and the searchbar. I also wanna know how i can remove these widgets.

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It is a pretty severe defect that pre chosen widgets are not as easily removeable as user installed ones!
They waste a lot of space that is needed for widgets that the user do want…

Yes the clumsy weather app is what i mainly dislike too. Much clumsier and much less informative than other weather apps i like. (I like graphs, I.e the DMI weather widget lets me see much more detail in a blink at half the size.)