Windows 11 brought back widgets to the PC, but keeping them in a panel accessible from the taskbar instead of the desktop. Even more widgets are now on the way.
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25290 is now rolling out in the Dev Channel, for any PCs enrolled in the Windows Insider program. It introduces two more widgets, though they have to be downloaded through the widgets collection in the Microsoft Store first. There’s a Spotify widget, which shows recommended playlists and other controls, and a Phone Link widget that displays the status of a connected phone with recent notifications.
Microsoft said in a blog post, “as you give these and other new widgets a try, please let us know what you think through the Widgets feedback link in the widgets picker. You should expect to see additional new widgets as more developers create and release widgets for their apps.”
The influx of new widgets comes after Microsoft released an SDK, allowing other developers to create widgets for the first time — on the current stable builds of Windows 11, only Microsoft’s own widgets are allowed. Facebook Messenger began testing a widget in January, and we can expect more to show up as third-party widget support starts rolling out to more PCs.
Source: Microsoft