IOS 14 found widget support and new wallpapers for iPhone and iPad

In March, it became known that Apple was working on a new menu in iOS settings, including new wallpapers, which in iOS 14 will be divided into categories. But if before that, all the rumors were limited to mentioning the operating system in the code, now users who have access to iOS 14 (and there are some because they started distributing it back in February), shared screenshots of the new menu that look right like real ones. In addition, there were hints of widgets in the new version of iOS.

Bold widget concept in iOS 14

The screenshots published on Twitter confirm what was previously detected in the iOS 14 code. Now, wallpapers are by default divided by collections. These include “Classic stripes”, “Earth and the Moon” and “Flowers” to make it easier for the user to find the desktop background and home screen to their liking. Instead of choosing from all the wallpapers, users will be able to browse each collection to make it easier to find specific wallpapers to their taste.

Wallpaper will be divided into categories and advanced settings will appear

In the screenshot, we noticed a new feature called “Appearance of the home screen”, which is similar to the dial settings in the Apple Watch application. If this feature is enabled, users will be able to set intelligent dynamic wallpapers that will be used only on the main screen.

This function cannot be called too sophisticated, but it can be part of something bigger in iOS 14. So, in the code of iOS 14 another new function was discovered, which is called "Avocado". It is associated with the Springboard application, which controls the home screen. We can safely assume that Apple is working to first add real widgets to the iPhone and iPad home screens. Instead of docked widgets, like on iPadOS 13, new widgets on iOS 14 can be moved like any app icon. This feature is still at the implementation stage, and it’s not a fact that it will reach iOS 14. I would like to.

If you ever got into the shoes of a “defector” and took an Android smartphone in your hands, most likely after returning to your iPhone you missed widgets that are rich in variety on the Google mobile platform. And although Apple does not say anything yet about whether we will be able to use widgets in iOS, thanks to the mention in the iOS 14 code, we can already fantasize about how they might look.

At one time, Apple tried to master widgets, but did not come to an understanding of how convenient it is to integrate them into the system itself. Each time Cupertino undertook their integration, the developers placed widgets where no one usually looked for them. In principle, they could be understood. After all, squeezing the weather widget between application icons would not be very aesthetically pleasing.

Most likely, iOS 14 will be shown in the middle of this year, at a conference for developers of WWDC 2020. Moreover, an approximate list of supported devices is already known.

What devices will upgrade to iOS 14

iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max
iPhone XR/XS/XS Max
iPhone 8/8 Plus/X
iPhone 7/7 Plus
iPhone 6s/6s Plus
iPhone SE
iPod Touch 7
iPad Pro 11”/12.9″
iPad Pro 10.5”
iPad Pro 9.7”
iPad 2017/2018/2019
iPad mini 5
iPad Air 3

It is expected that new gestures will debut in the system for more intuitive interaction with updated elements. Also, iOS 14 will acquire many new features. However, there is no specific information about the key features of the OS yet. We only know that some of these functions were planned to be introduced in iOS 13, but Apple decided to postpone their debut in order to concentrate on fixing bugs and improving performance.