Three Apps That Let You Create And Customize Your Own Widgets

BY GreenBot Staff

GreenBot Staff

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Published 19 Nov 2014

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Budgets are Android’s claim to fame. I’ve even heard tales of long-time iOS users switching over. Because they can stick whatever their heart desires on the Home screen. But some of the widgets built into Android or that come packaged with apps are limited in functionality. And sometimes you want to go the whole nine yards when customizing your Home screen. So that the wallpaper icons match the widgets. If that sounds like you, check out these three fantastic apps for customizing your widgets.

UCCW – Ultimate custom widget

UCCW 1 — The end result of a UCCW widget.

UCCW – Ultimate custom widget (UCC- we don’t know why there are two “C” s) is not nearly as ultimate as it advertises. However, it’s straightforward to use for first-time widget tinkerers. I found it much less overwhelming to use than some of the other custom widget apps in the play store. And it’s the most useful when you download theme packs.

UCCW 2 — UCCW lets you customize widgets to your liking, but you’ll have to go out in search of theme packs.

Like most other widget-making apps, UCCW features a battery meter, custom clock, and weather information widgets. You can also create custom Hotspots. Which refer to a designated part of the widget that brings up a specific app or action. You could create a Hotspot over a clock widget. And bring up the function to set the alarm when you tap in the left-hand corner.
Objects can also be easily resized from the Home screen or transparent from within the app itself. Remember that while UCCW is free, it’s covered in ads. You can donate $5 inside the app if you want to remove the advertisements.

Buzz Launcher

Buzz Launcher default widgets are pretty simplistic.

So you want to step up your widget game? Buzz Launcher offers a custom widget editor, tweaked for today’s busy lifestyle.

It’s a little intimidating to use at first because of all its options. But if you’re committed to customizing the heck out of your Home screen. You’ll want to take the time to learn how to properly use everything. The payoff is worth it.

UCCW 4 — You can customize widgets even after you place them on the Home screen.

Out of the box, Buzz Launcher offers weather, music, battery, and clock widgets, which you can all customize with or without theme packs. You can edit quite a few elements of each widget. Like what it does, its background image, its icons, and how dates and numbers are displayed. The best part of the app, however, is the massive library of user-submitted compatible themes for your Home Screen.

HD Widgets

UCCW 5 — HD Widgets is one of the best widget apps

This app is possibly everyone’s go-to for adding stylish configurable widgets to the Home screen. You can usually find it on any best-of-Android apps list for a good reason. HD Widgets come loaded with clock, date, switch, weather, forecast, and location widgets. With over a dozen different sizes to fit both phone-tablet interfaces. You can even make custom lock screen widgets and download theme pack icons to take customization a step further. One of my favorites is Kairo, which is flat and bold. Material Design.

UCCW 6 — It’s really easy to customize create your own widgets in HD budgets.

The only caveat is that HD Budget 4 requires Android 4.0.3 and up, so if you’re way behind on updates, you’re out of luck.

HD Widgets

Got a widget maker we didn’t mention that you like way better? Pop it in the comments!