58 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 45FEATURE
- Widgets via app shortcuts
Google has changed the location and appearance
of the home screen widget picker several times, and
Oreo brings yet another alteration. This one might
make using widgets much easier, though. All of an
app’s widgets are accessible with a long-press on the
app icon. This works in the app drawer as well as on
the home screen.
The long-press menu is the same one that shows
pending notifications via notification dots, one of the
high-profile changes to Android 8.0. Less well-known
is the icon that looks like four small squares. That’s the
widget shortcut. It’s at the top of the popup for apps
that have launcher shortcuts, but it has a full line with
a label on those that do not. Tap the icon (wherever