IPhone goes off-grid

Apple has embraced widgets – and radically rearranged the home screen, writes

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple and Google have been flattering each other for the last 13 years. It was in 2007 that Apple invented the smartphone as we know it. The first generation iPhone had a screen of just three-anda-half inches from corner to corner and cost around £500. But it was a revelation

– a phone, music player and internet browser in the same portable device, with a touchscreen to control them all.

More than six million were sold and as they disappeared from the shelves, the rest of the industry began playing catch-up.

The result was the Android phone, made at first by HTC, Samsung and Motorola and powered by software from Google. The first ones were crude and clumsy – nothing like the genuine iPhone – but with each successive iteration they got closer and, some would argue, better. In particular, Android phones had live tiles that displayed information on the home screen without having to open an app. These socalled widgets could be resized and moved freely around the screen, and became one of the platform’s most saleable features.

It has taken until now for Apple to embrace them. The latest version of iOS, the annually-updated operating system behind iPhones and iPads, was announced last month and represents a radical departure from the grid layout that has characterised every model since launch.

As of version 14, home screens will be able to make use of widgets in three sizes, placed elegantly amongst the regular icons. They can be stacked on top of one another and, if the preview event last month was

iOS14 will also let your iPhone unlock and start your car – so long as it is

a 2021 BMW 5 Series.

Dashboard gadgets: This trio of lightweight car dashboard gadgets consist of a hygrometer, quartz clock and thermometer. The hygrometer is used to measure the amount of water vapour in a confined space. £8, from www.hughesbuyandsell.com