One of the most distinguishing features of Android, among it being open source and much rapidly developing as compared to its major competitor, iOS, is the ability to use widgets. Not only they decorate the launcher’s home screen aesthetically, but also provide much needed functionality without the need to launch the applications that they cater to themselves.
Widgets are not exclusive to Android – they have been a part of the Windows operating system for desktops as well, and they have been found in certain other smartphone platforms as well. In fact, it is the popularity of widgets that even Apple, which is rather stubborn when it comes to adopting features from other platforms (or, at least, acknowledge that they have), also chose to include widgets in the later versions of their iPhone operating system. Even if they’re not very useful, they’re there, which is a testament to what you can achieve through this addition.
Coming back to Android’s widgets, while there’s a huge variety of those available, it’s no hidden fact that the stock ones are rather dull. Thankfully, there are various third-party alternatives available, which are not only capable, but also very elegant and beautiful. Among these third-party alternatives, nothing beats the ones offered by HTC’s Sense skin. There’s a reason why Sense is one of the most popular OEM Android skins, and these useful widgets definitely add to this phenomenon. The problem however, is that there’s no easy way to back these widgets up. We have all experienced that stock ROMs tend to become sluggish after a certain time, and if you choose to move for a custom solution, you may find yourself looking for a way to replace all the widgets manually. This is why XDA recognized developer, Patrics83, cooked up Widget Scanner.
Using this app, you will be able to get out a lot of tricky situations. In the developer’s own words, it can be used if:
- If you are missing widgets, even if you didn’t remove them.
- If you have been flashing a mod that resulted in missing widgets.
- If you have been removing HTC Sense apps after the initial boot process.
- If your widgets for a “unknown” reason just disappeared.
- If you have been restoring/installing HTC widgets.
Widget Scanner’s usage is as simple as flashing the ZIP through a custom recovery on any Sense-based ROM for HTC devices. The app itself is built using AROMA installer, so it guides you through all the steps. Once you’re done, you will simply reboot the device, and that’s it.
Widget Scanner is being distributed through the XDA-Developers forum, and can be found by heading to the source link below, where you can also find more details, technical information, and hopefully support, should you need any.
(Source: XDA-Developers forum thread)
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