How to install Android 12 widgets on any smartphone

Andrew
4 years ago

Google introduced the biggest change to Android since the launch of Material Design with its new Material You design language. Along with it, developers are encouraged to embrace the rounded edges in an effort to create a unified interface across the board. But Google also finally gave some love to its own widgets with an all-new Clock, Weather, and the useful Conversation widget.

Android 12 Beta lands with a massive performance boost and significant redesign

The problem for many is that unless you have a Pixel or a device that is compatible with the Android 12 beta program, you won’t be able to get these widgets for a while. Even those who are currently running the first Android 12 beta are stuck waiting as the new clock and weather widgets are not available yet. However, you can install Android 12 widgets on any smartphone, without waiting for the software to arrive.

How to install Android 12 widgets

The process to install Android 12 widgets is not as simple as if you were to download and apply an icon pack. Instead, you’ll need to take advantage of the ultra-popular KGWT app, along with finding a pack of widgets that work for you.

What you’ll need

After you’ve installed KWGT and purchase the KWGT Pro Key, you’ll want to check out either Android 12 Widgets – KWGT or Android 12 Clock for Kustom. The first option provides more than 15 different widgets to choose from, including that weather widget that we saw during the Material You announcement. As for Android 12 Clock, you’re only getting the clock widget itself, although there are four themes to choose from.

Once you’ve made your selection, it’s time to get started. As a reminder, this works on any phone, provided that you have KWGT installed.

Press and hold on an empty space on your home screen.
Select a widget size to match what you’ll need on your home screen.
1. For the clock widget, we recommend using either the 2×2 or 4×4 widget.
When taken to the KWGT app, tap the Explore tab at the bottom.
Click Installed packs.
Select whichever Android 12 widget pack you want to use from the list.
Tap the widget you want to use.
After it loads in the Kustom editor, tap the Save icon in the top menu bar.

Now you’ll have access to the Android 12 widgets even if you aren’t running Android 12. It was only a matter of time for the Kustom community to bring us these creations, and they definitely haven’t disappointed.

There are some instances where the scaling of the widget may appear off, as it’s either too small or too large for the widget size that you selected. If this happens, follow the process for adding a widget to your home screen again, selecting the same widget size. But before clicking that Save icon, switch to the Layers tab within the KWGT editor. From here, adjust the scale to fit the outline to your liking. This should fix any potential sizing issues when trying to apply these new widgets to your home screen.