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7. Android Widgets > Creating a Basic Widget
Creating a Basic Widget
An Android widget is a small window into the functionality of a full application. They can be used to display status information, such as the current weather or the number of unread messages, and they can provide quick access to commonly used controls like the Play/Pause button on a music player. Widgets are embedded in other applications, though they are typically only embedded in the Launcher application. The Launcher app is the starting screen, or home screen, for an Android device. Figure 7.1 shows an example home screen with a few widgets.
Figure 7.1 Widgets that are included with Android
Tip
Google provides an app widget template pack to assist you in creating visually stunning widgets. It includes pre-built 9-patch graphics, XML layouts, and Adobe Photoshop templates. You can download the template pack at http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/widget_design.html.
