Tasker’s new widget editor gives KWGT a run for its money

Customization has played an instrumental role in Android’s success, and widgets gave users a chance to use the empty space on their home screens as they pleased. Early apps like Zooper Widget had a great run until they were discontinued, and it’s been more than seven years since. We’ve had other great widget creation apps like Kustom Widget (KWGT) to fill the void, but it’s not everyday that other promising contenders show up, offering the same degree of customizability. Now, an unlikely new addition presents itself in the form of Tasker’s Widget v2 update.

You aren’t mistaken in identifying Tasker as an automation service that takes the effort out of everyday activities like switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data when you step out of home. However, this app also has a widget utility which was just updated to include several cool features.

The latest version of Tasker, bearing version number 6.4, packs what the devs are calling Widget v2. This is a huge improvement from the limited array of automation shortcuts you could add to the home screen like widgets in previous versions. Widgets v2 includes a bunch of useful presets that don’t need much tinkering, such as scrollable icons that take up a 1×1 space in your grid, but allow access to multiple shortcuts. These icons also change dynamically based on parameters like time of day.

Other presets include a tabular format which can display weather forecasts for the week, and a simple media player UI that can handle all your media apps. Switching media apps can be assigned to a simple tap action in the widget.

Advanced users can enjoy a lot more features

Command line editing included

If you’re familiar with KWGT or just prefer creating bespoke widgets like Zooper allowed back in the day, you might like the new GUI Tasker includes for custom widgets. You get a real-time preview of the changes you make, and the elements include a command-line editor where you can edit the JSON for your creation. These custom modules allow creating an automations dashboard widget, or a custom RSS reader that pulls news from Reddit. You can also create a slide puzzle out of an image if you fancy. The app also supports Material Design 3 tokens you could use for pulling colors that match your setup exactly.

Another key addition to this version is support for remote task execution. If you have a local device and another one set up with Tasker as a remote device, they can exchange location info now, or use each-other’s Quick Settings toggles. A full changelog for the updates included is linked here. You can install this update directly from Tasker’s website now, or wait for a while until this build is available through the Google Play Store.