what's with the craze over beautiful widgets? enlighten me

[jerrad707]

ok, so I've said before that I don't like paying for apps unless they are awesome, but all the hype about BW lead me to downloading it before even trying it. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. There's a lot of skins for the clock/weather, but other than that I don't understand how it "makes the phone beautiful" as I've heard so many times. Also, it's one of the most frequently praised/favorited apps in the AF community. Please AF, enlighten me...what am I missing (I hope I am missing something because my buyer's remorse might be cured).

btw, I still use the HTC Sense clock and weather widget because I'm not convinced

HTC Incredible on Froyo

 

[Tre Lawrence]

You either like it or you don't... I switch back and forth between BW and Sense.

I do like BW a great deal.

 

[lifeonmtv]

i don't use sense,

BW is the best replacement i've found for the sense clock

 

[burtcom]

I do use Sense -- and for me the HTC digital clock widget was too large. The one I now use from BW is just the right size to free up some screen real-estate and still be readable.

Not to mention that BW are very configurable and skinable...

 

[SlowRain]

Thank you for posting this. I'm scratching my head over BW as well.

 

[Rokcet Scientist]

Thank you for posting this. I'm scratching my head over BW as well.

It's just a hype, guys! And like all hypes: it is baseless mass hysteria over nothing of course. So forget about it and make your own decision

 

[jerrad707]

Thank you for posting this. I'm scratching my head over BW as well.

I'm glad I'm not alone, it felt like it for a long time.

It's just a hype, guys! And like all hypes: it is baseless mass hysteria over nothing of course. So forget about it and make your own decision

Things don't become popular for little or no reason. They become popular because they have good value. If people are still content with BW after paying ($5?) for it then it obviously holds some value. I just wanted to know if I was missing something that helps it retain such high interest/popularity. Apparently I actually do see it for what it's worth (to me), but I appreciate all of your feedback. I wasn't asking for someone to make a decision for me; I was simply asking for people to give me the reasons they like the app, because I thought that I may have missed out on some of its features.

 

[icebergslim3000]

The answer is obvious. It's a good clock replacement for people who don't have HTC phones or are running alternative launchers like ADW or launcher pro.

 

[jerrad707]

The answer is obvious. It's a good clock replacement for people who don't have HTC phones or are running alternative launchers like ADW or launcher pro.

No, the answer wasn't obvious, and that's why I was asking. My HTC Incredible is the first Android phone I've had so I have only known Sense and did not know that was the biggest reason people bought it.

 

[k00ey]

I use fancy widget. Beautiful, clean, and best of all FREE!

 

[goughy]

I use fancy widget. Beautiful, clean, and best of all FREE!

There is a Pro paid version of it now!

I'm a BW user because I like it, I like some of the skins. Heck, I only use the weather widget now days anyway.

 

[nstg8r]

Geez, it's only a couple bucks. Try it, if you don't like it then don't use it.

 

[thrawn86]

because they are beautiful sense clock is boring, but fancy widgets is also a good replacement if you like the sense look.

 

[Rokcet Scientist]

Forgot your glasses again, Neenjah?

 

[pool_shark]

The answer is obvious. It's a good clock replacement for people who don't have HTC phones or are running alternative launchers like ADW or launcher pro.

Agreed.
HTC sense is only on HTC devices. Others who would like the weather animations that sense provides has to have a 3rd party product, that's where BW comes in.

Also, even with your HTC device if you use launcher pro you can't use the sense widgets.

 

[RichSz]

I was unaware they did the animated weather like Sense. That is a compelling reason to check out BW.

 

[nomarsgirl]

Fancy Widget is exactly the same as the HTC Sense Clock/Weather widget. There is no point in getting it if you have a Sense phone.

I have a rooted Eris and use Launcher Pro as my home. Since I'm running a non-Sense ROM, I no longer have the HTC widget. I use BW because I like the versatility. I currently am using the 1x4 weather with the forecast and a different clock entirely.

There are a lot of different configurations for the beautiful clock and weather widgets. There are the toggle widgets as well. I like to change things around on my phone and it is nice to have a single widget that can give me so many different looks.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Apps like Beautiful Widgets and Weather & Toggle Widgets became popular when the first phones with the Sense UI came out. Since the HTC Hero and Droid Eris were the only phones that had these widgets, developers decided to make copies of them for mass distribution. After C&D letters from HTC over the copy rights of the Sense clock the developers redesigned the widgets and made them skinable (some already had this feature) so that they could be made to look like the original while still being legal. When HTC introduced the Sense Clock with animated weather with the 2.1 OS release the developers added the animation as well.

Each one of these widgets Beautiful Widgets, Weather & Toggle Widget and Fancy Widget have their own features and following. While BW and W&TW are still available in the market Fancy Widgets has been removed as it copied the pre 2.1 clock too much and was forced out by HTC.

For those with a phone that does not contain Sense UI these replacements along with a few other widget options and launchers are the only way to achieve the look of Sense. People with Sense UI phones have chosen to use BW or W&TW instead of the standard Sense clock because it is skinable and offers them the ability to have a different look on the phone. BW also offers alternative weather sources (Google or Accuweather) that the factory Sense clock does not offer.

 

[chris100575]

I'm using a custom ROM which is vanilla Android - no Sense - so the stock HTC clock / weather app is not available.

That said if I ever go back to a Sense-based ROM I'll still use BW over the stock version because it's more configurable. I like the fact that I can choose to use a smaller version of the clock / weather app to get more screen space, and that I can use different skins and transparency to make it fit better with my chosen wallpaper.

 

[mc48]

well said as always OTD. I have a sense phone (Eris) but use BW because I like the different skins and because I love LPP too much to give it up to go back to Sense launcher. Besides after the 2.1 update, my phone was terribly laggy. One of the things I had to do to fix it was stop using the weather widget. It cleared right up. Now that I have rooted I'm not sure this would still be an issue but I am happy using BW.