We’re not at all envious of Google apps trying to get a piece of iOS 16’s lock screen widgets.

Coming soon are widgets in all different sizes and forms.

iOS 16 goes live today and for many iPhone users, it’s all going to be about the lock screen: fonts, colors, object-layer relationships — all of it meant to bring customization and personality to a place that really matters on the phone. Owners of the device will likely see it dozens or perhaps hundreds of times each day, maybe drawing the attention of passersby. Widgets are a key component of the lock screen customization strategy Apple is using, and you can bet they have APIs that app developers can use. With a large user base and little available space, Google is arguing for the use of its widgets.

The corporation is providing a variety of widgets centred around its search engine services, including Lens, Translate, Google Shopping, and Google Scholar. Search is also available in the usual “text box” flavour, taking up two of the four available slots, or the one-slot voice inquiry button (the latter are one-slot widgets).

Widgets are now available for additional Google apps. Chrome includes its own set of four widgets: one that launches the browser, one that launches a voice search, one that launches an Incognito Mode tab, and one that enables users to access an Easter egg from the Dino game. A four-slot widget in Drive displays suggested and Starred files. For immediate navigation to your house, place of employment, or other locations of interest, Google Maps offers two-slot widgets. Hotel, restaurant, store, and café searches are all available as widget buttons. Users can track their inboxes using one, two, or four slots in Gmail. Last but not least, a top headline receives a two-slot space on Google News.

Before these widgets go live, Google says it will take a few weeks, but users should download its apps to prepare. While we fully anticipate some Android software skin producers to include a Dynamic Island, we’d want to remind them that we’d prefer to see lock screen widgets before you try any of that nonsense on us, okay? Don’t force us to download a (well-made) third-party application.