Mobile development: Android introduces quality guidelines for widgets

Google presented its relatively new quality levels for Android widgets as part of a theme week (Spotlight Week). An article explaining these new quality levels in detail and offering best practice has been available in the documentation since November 2024. The quality levels for widgets are intended to help developers optimize their widgets and improve the user experience.

In its announcement article, Google emphasizes the important role of widgets for user engagement and the visibility of apps. The new widget quality levels provide developers with guidelines for implementing best practices in widget development. These levels are designed to ensure that widgets are consistent and engaging across different Android devices, including smartphones, tablets and foldable devices.

Subdivision into three levels

There are three quality levels: Differentiated (Level 1), Quality Standard (Level 2) and Low Quality (Level 3). The highest level, “Differentiated”, requires widgets that are characterized by individual design and adaptability. Widgets in this category enable individual experiences and help to create unique home screens. They not only meet the requirements of the second level, but also offer additional improvements in terms of layout, coloring, and system integration.

The second level, “Quality Standard”, includes widgets that are functional and usable by meeting basic criteria for layout, color, and discoverability. Widgets in the third level, “Low Quality”, on the other hand, do not meet the minimum requirements and do not offer an optimal user experience.

Widgets that meet the quality standards will be easier to find under the new widget filter in Google Play. In its announcement post, Android encourages developers to use canonical widget layouts based on Jetpack Glance components to facilitate the creation of high-quality widgets.

(mdo)