Gadgetory

hello again ladies and gentlemen I'm Joe handy the Android authority app guy HD widgets version 4 was released recently along with a new update to color form as well as a new theme called Cairo in this review we're gonna check them out ok so what is HD widgets HD widgets is an application that provides you with a number of clock weather indicator toggle and other widgets that you can adorn your home screens with it's one of the most popular and consistent widget packages in the history of Android and it's only getting better it provides a number of widgets and various sizes that you can customize a whole bunch with the release of version 4 comes a lot of new features most notable are a few new widgets such as the 7 and 10 day forecast widgets location-based widgets single column widgets and a smart weather stat widget that is now available there is also a new interface with sidebar navigation as well as an hourly bar graph for your weather if you choose to use it along with version 4 came an update to the color form add-on it's mostly things to make it compatible with HD widgets version 4 if you're not familiar with color form it is a theme pack that contains a lot more bright colors to give you more options for your widgets also new with the HD widgets version 4.0 release is their new Cairo theme this is a flat and minimal theme to help augment the KitKat experience you can apply the Cairo theme to over 60 widgets across HD widgets and with it comes a huge array of colors and potential options it was specifically designed for the new widgets that came with version 4 although it does work with most of the widgets that are already present as well in short HD widgets version 4 is a huge step up from what it used to be it has always been arguably one of the best widget packs of all time and with the version 4 released the color form update and the Cairo launch it's added hundreds of new options and they all look really good it's hard to judge the design of HD widgets because you can make the widgets look pretty much how you want them to they come in a plethora of sizes from one by one to gigantic tablet sizes if you need those to use color form in Cairo after you purchase them of course you can use the button at the top to access them most widgets have color form and Kiro support color form has been around for a while and it's nice to see it get updated as well it definitely adds some unique and very colorful options for those who prefer their experience to be a little bit brighter Cairo packs a lot of that same but with everything flattened out you can give your widgets a more sophisticated minimal look that works really well with existing KitKat theme elements the app that comes along with the widgets has changed as well it used to be a solid weather app that showed you some good information and it was clean with the update HD widget sees a UI change that conforms better to the Android design standard as it now contains a pull up menu from the left side for the most part it's essentially rearranging the old information you can still collect weather from weather bug AccuWeather and Weather Underground but it actually displays more weather data than it used to you can get weather alerts in the widgets now and there is now a graph available that shows the weather on an hourly basis we really like that ok so here's what we liked this update was huge longtime HD widget fans have a lot of new stuff to look at even without the add-ons new widgets new functionality and improvements with stuff like battery life and performance are all included with the update color form also got a huge update and allows it to work with all new widgets from version 4 Kairo XP got released and it's a gorgeous themed set the flattened minimal theme adds an element that HD widgets was kind of missing for a long time and people interested in a more modern theme should definitely give it a look among my favorite new features are the UI changes the Android design standard makes it easier to move around and the added UI stuff like the one-hour weather graph actually made me uninstall my other weather app because I really didn't need it anymore the addition of location-based widgets and smart weather widgets makes the experience more in-depth than it used to be something else I really liked is that if you're not sure if you want to buy the Kairo XP or the color form XP add-ons there are free versions available that you can use they have fewer themes but it gives you a good idea of what's what and lets you see how they work lastly using HD widgets you can make a widget that fits with pretty much any theme and that's always a good thing one thing about using a custom launcher or a custom ROM is finding stuff to put on your homescreen that fits with the new aesthetic with HD widgets you no longer have that problem and here is the bat with the update HD widgets is compatible with android 4.0.3 and up only if you are a longtime HD widgets fan and you're one of those people who have a version of Android that is older than that it doesn't work anymore and while I know there aren't many of those people left it still sucks for those people as with any release there are a few bugs that people are report every now and then someone has a widget disappear but that's something that happens with android kitkat and really isn't HD widgets fault but since it is a widget application it's something that people who use HD widgets will have to deal with there is a little lag on older devices and a couple of other very minor things that don't seem to be frequent enough but it's still there overall if you like widgets HD widgets is what you want to get it has a bunch of sizes in a bunch of colors and styles and they perform a bunch of different tasks personally I've been using HD widgets for years and it's usually among the first apps I installed when I get a new phone if you've been watching my review videos for a while you know I don't say that very often Kairo and color form do a phenomenal job to augment an already solid experience between those two themes and the stock themes you should have no problems finding exactly what kind of widget you're looking for yes there is a problem here and there but you can't name an application that doesn't so in the grand scheme of things HD widgets is a serious win and if you're into widgets you should definitely give this a shot once again I'm Joe maybe the Android Authority apke don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you want to follow Android Authority myself or the rest of the video team you can find our social media links in the video description below if you're hanging out for a minute we have a couple of awesome videos for you to watch right over there including my review of date frame which is done by the same developers who have done HD widgets as well as my review of xej in case you're looking for some new wallpapers to complement your new widgets finally don't forget to check out the Brittain companion in the video description below for all of the download links thanks again for watching everybody and have a wonderful day