One of the defining features of Windows 11, besides the new Start Menu, is the Widget panel, but this has not raised much excitement since all the widgets are created by Microsoft with limited range, functionality and customization, making it not much different from the News and Interest pop-up on Windows 10.
That may be about to change, however, according to some evidence uncovered by Windows developer FireCube from Microsoft’s App Store policies.
It appears the API will be open and unmanaged apps will be able to create Widgets. Widgets would even be supported from websites, making them somewhat similar to Live Tiles in Windows 10.
Microsoft of course recommends uploading your Widget to the Microsoft Store for greater discoverability. It appears Microsoft will also be offering what they call a Widget Board which would display the widgets that can be installed.
It seems likely the widgets will be built on web technology, though this has not been clarified yet.
3rd party support should make Windows 11 widgets much more attractive, though support by major publishers has been somewhat lacking on the Windows platform in recent years.