What is the Difference Between the Widget and the App? with Proper Definition and Brief Explanation

The main difference between widget and application is that a Widget is a simple and easy-to-use software that can be used on different software platforms, while an application is a full-featured standalone software program specifically designed for mobile devices.                                                            the Widget and the App

Widgets are pre-installed programs that run continuously. Some applications have widgets instead of icons to provide aesthetic appeal to the home screen. Also, widgets have links to programs. On the other hand, an application is downloadable software that runs online or offline on mobile devices. It is a program that performs a specific task. Also, most of the applications are specially designed for mobile devices. Therefore, there is a clear difference between the widget and the application.

Key areas covered

1. What is a Widget
     – Definition, Functionality
2. What is an application?
     – Definition, Functionality
3. What is the difference between the widget and the application?
     – Comparison of key differences

Key terms

Application, Widget

What is a Widget

A widget is a simple and easy-to-use software application that can be used with different platforms. They provide shortcuts to larger programs. Additionally, a widget can provide an extension to an existing widget. Additionally, it extends the behavior of the existing widget and describes how to respond to user actions.

The types

There are several types of widgets:

GUI widget

The GUI widget helps to control and change the appearance of items in the software. A widget toolkit helps reuse GUI widgets to build user interfaces.

Desktop widget

The desktop widget is a specialized GUI widget that runs on a computer desktop so that computer users can control simple functions such as clocks, messaging services, calendars, dictionaries, calculators, maps, and photo viewers.

Web Widget

Web Widget is a portable application to offer site visitors shopping, ads, videos, or other simple functions from third-party widget editors.

Mobile Widget

The mobile widget is similar to the desktop widgets, but they are for mobile phones. They can minimize screen space and are useful for applications rich in live data.

TV widget

The TV widget is a widget that is available for televisions.

What is an application?

An application refers to a program for any hardware platform, such as a mobile device such as smartphones and tablets. They are fast, small and easier to use. In addition, applications for iPhones are available in the App Store and applications for Android phones are available in the Play Store. The term application became popular due to the popularity of Apple applications, but now Android and Windows programs are also called applications.

Users can use the applications by downloading and installing them from an online application store. Some applications are free, while users must pay for others. Applications consume a minimal amount of resources. Most mobile apps are less expensive than PC apps as they don’t provide much functionality. For example, a word processing application designed as an application has fewer features compared to the word application in Windows.

Difference between widget and app

Definition

A widget is a simple and easy-to-use software application or component built for one or more software platforms. In contrast, an application is a software program that runs on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Thus, this explains the main difference between the widget and the application.

Start

The widgets run continuously. However, the user must touch and open an application to launch it. This is a difference between the widget and the app.

Termination

Widgets always run in the background while applications terminate when you walk away from the interface.

Hibernation

Hibernation is another difference between the widget and the app. Widgets are autorun applications, so they don’t hibernate. In contrast, applications hibernate when the session ends.

Method of use

The widgets are pre-installed and come with the device; However, the user must download and install the application before using it.

Conclusion

In summary, the main difference between widget and application is that a widget is simple and easy-to-use software that can be used on different software platforms, while an application is a full-featured standalone software program that is specifically designed for mobile devices.

Reference:

1. “Software Widget”. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, October 13, 2018, Available here .
2. “App”. Application definition, Techterms, Available here.

Courtesy Image:

1. “1370785” (CC0) via Pxhere
2. “Flat ui weather widget ” by Chris Lee (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr