7 widgets I always add to my home screen on every Android phone

I’ve always felt that app widgets don’t get nearly enough credit for the convenience they offer. They’re great for checking important information at a glance and jumping directly into specific app features. That’s why my home screen setup has never been about finding the perfect wallpaper or obsessing over icon packs. For me, it’s all about choosing the right widgets.

Over the years, I’ve settled on a handful of widgets I simply can’t live without. In fact, setting up a new Android phone never really feels complete to me until they’re all in place.

Between wireless earbuds, a smartwatch, and the occasional Bluetooth speaker, there are sometimes too many devices to keep track of. That’s why a battery widget is essential for me. It gives me an at-a-glance view of everything, so I can quickly see what’s running low before heading out.

Sure, I can also check the battery level from the Quick Settings panel, but it’s not nearly as detailed. For instance, it shows the battery level of the earbuds themselves, but not the case. For that, I’d either have to dig into the Bluetooth menu or open the Galaxy Buds Manager app.

With the battery widget, all that information is available right on the home screen at all times. I also like that it’s fully resizable. This lets me pick a size that covers all my devices without wasting space. This widget came built-in on my Galaxy S26, but it’s not exclusive to Samsung phones. Pixel phones and most other Android phones offer similar battery widgets.

After months of bouncing between browsers, I finally settled on Brave. And around the same time, I also added its widget to my home screen, and it quickly became one of my favorites. For starters, it puts my bookmarks front and center, so I can jump straight to the website I need instead of seeing my recent tabs first. And if I’m looking for something else, the built-in search bar is right there.

The widget also includes a convenient shortcut for opening a private tab. That means I don’t have to long-press the browser icon or dig through menus every time I want to browse privately. So yes, it’s all about reducing friction.

For better or worse, I’ve grown much more reliant on Gemini than I ever expected. To that end, I’ve replaced the search bar on my home screen with the Gemini widget. Yes, getting rid of the Google Search bar is something you can do on a Galaxy phone — sorry, Pixel users.

Jokes aside, the main benefit is that this simple widget puts all of Gemini’s shortcuts within reach. I can start a conversation, type a prompt, launch the camera, and even start screen sharing. I probably use the Live and Video shortcuts the most, so I can just start talking to Gemini or point my camera at whatever I’m looking at and ask questions about it. It’s quite handy when I come across something I don’t know about.

I’ll admit, most of my widgets are there to help me get things done faster. The Digital Wellbeing widget, though, is not one of them. Instead, it’s there to remind me when I’ve spent too much time on my phone. I keep a compact 2×2 widget that tells me my screen time along with my three most-used apps for the day.

Personally, app timers have never worked for me because I always end up ignoring them. The widget is much more effective. It keeps me aware of how much time I’ve already spent on my phone every time I return to the home screen. And the list of top apps tells me whether that time was spent on doing something productive or simply doom-scrolling.

The Samsung Health widget earns its place on my home screen for much the same reason as the Digital Wellbeing widget — visibility. I’ve found that I’m far more likely to stay on top of my goals when I can see my progress throughout the day.

I use the widget mainly to track my step count and make sure I hit my goal of 6,000 steps (don’t judge). The widget also shows my step count from previous days, along with active time and calories burned. If you don’t have a Galaxy phone, Google Fit offers a similar widget.

I don’t use Google Maps often enough to justify giving it a permanent spot on my home screen, but I do rely on its location-sharing feature almost every day. My wife and I share our locations with each other through Google Maps, so I’ve added the Share Location and Friends’ Location widgets to my secondary home screen. These are simple 1×1 shortcuts that let me jump to Google Maps’ location-sharing menu.

Most of the time, I use them to see when she’s on her way home at night or to share my location when I’m out with friends. There are other ways to share location, but I like how Google Maps also shows the battery indicator. That way, if my phone is about to die, she knows not to worry if I suddenly go offline.

I have a terrible memory, so whenever I come across something I want to remember, I create a note. It could be an article idea, a reminder to pay a bill, or a simple shopping list. I rely on Google Keep for all of it, so having its widget is a no-brainer.

What I like most about it is its versatility. This simple widget lets me create a text note, snap a photo, record a voice note, or create a checklist. Whatever I need to save, there’s a shortcut that gets me there. Most popular note-taking apps offer similar widgets, so if you use Samsung Notes, Evernote, OneNote, or something else, you’ll likely find a widget like this.

Honestly, I’d love to have even more widgets on my home screen. But the thing about widgets is that it’s easy to overdo them. Add too many, and your home screen will surely look cluttered. I’d argue that even seven widgets is pushing it, but thankfully, One UI lets me create widget stacks to keep everything under control.