Apple iOS 16: Google rolls out lock screen widgets for its iPhone apps

Google widgets are available for Gmail, Google News, Chrome, and Drive. The widgets for other Google services such as Search, Maps and Calendar are yet to arrive

Google has started rolling out iOS 16 lock screen widgets for its iPhone apps. The widgets are currently available for Gmail, Google News, Chrome, and Drive. Whereas, the widgets for Search, Maps, and Calendar are yet to arrive. The new Google widgets come in circular, rectangular, and inline forms. The first two will be placed below the clock on the lock screen, while the inline will appear above the clock.

For Gmail, the rectangular widget shows the number of new messages received and breaks them into categories — like Social, Updates or Promotions. The circular widget only shows the total new messages. Whereas, the inline widget displays date (in a shortened form) and the total number of messages.

In the case of Google News, a rectangular widget displays short headlines on the lock screen. When tapped, it takes the user directly to the Google News app to read the full story.

Drive offers rectangular widgets as well as two circular widgets. The rectangular widget enables quick access to the ‘suggested files’, while the circular widgets enable search in any particular file or access to the starred files.

Chrome's circular widget launches Google Search in Chrome. It supports incognito search, voice search and Dino Game.

Apple released its latest iOS 16 operating system update last month. The iOS 16 brings new 'lock screen with widgets' feature, which allows the users to add widgets to the lock screen and these widgets can act as a way of presenting notifications. With widgets enabled, the lock screen shows more information at a glance such as upcoming calendar events, weather, battery levels, alarms, time zones, etc. without unlocking the iPhone.