Sketchy Rumor Says iOS 16 Could Feature Interactive Widgets

BY Anu Joy

Published 27 Jan 2022

iOS 16 Interactive Widgets

iOS 15 was rolled out last year, and offered features such as FaceTime improvements, Live Text, Focus, redesigned notification, and more. With Apple working on iOS 16, a sketchy new rumor is doing the rounds, claiming that it will finally add interactive widgets and the leaker promises to reveal more details soon.

The new widget goes by the codename “InfoShack” internally, according to tipster LeaksApplePro. The leaked image indicates that you could adjust display brightness, set a stopwatch, control your flashlight, and play music directly from your home screen.

Interactive widgets are nothing new for Android, however Apple has been hesitant to incorporate them in its devices. But that changed, sort of, with the iOS 14 which added widgets to the iPhone’s home screen. However, they can only be used to view information and are not interactive in nature, unlike Android’s widgets.

Too Good to be True?

The leaker adds a disclaimer that “there is a lot of work to do so there could be changes to this during the coming months.” But a look at the leaked image reveals that some icons look a little dodgy. Take the Remote icon, for instance. It looks vastly different from the Remote icon in iOS 15 with an extra circle on top of the controls. The flashlight icon looks thicker and the icon for display brightness isn’t quite the same. Moreover, the weather widget looks outdated.

Our Take

There is a chance that Apple may be tweaking the design for potentially interactive widgets for iOS 16. However, the leaked images showcase some widgets that look outdated and others that bear little resemblance to iOS 15 widgets. We’re not getting our hopes too high for the possibility of interactive widgets, considering that there’s very little proof to back up these claims.