Dashboard is a discontinued feature of Apple Inc.'s macOS operating systems, used as a secondary desktop for hosting mini-applications known as widgets. These are intended to be simple applications that do not take time to launch. Dashboard applications supplied with macOS included a stock ticker, weather report, calculator, and notepad; while users could create or download their own.
Os X Widget For Mac
Before Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, when Dashboard is activated, the user's desktop is dimmed and widgets appear in the foreground. Like application windows, they can be moved around, rearranged, deleted, and recreated (so that more than one of the same Widget is open at the same time, possibly with different settings). New widgets can be opened, via an icon bar on the bottom of the layer, loading a list of available apps similar to the iOS homescreen or the macOS Launchpad. After loading, the widget is ready for use.
From OS X 10.10 Yosemite onward, the Dashboard was disabled by default, with the Notification Center becoming the primary method of displaying widgets. As of macOS 10.15 Catalina, Dashboard has been removed from macOS.[5]
Dashboard widgets, like web pages, are capable of many different things, including of performing tasks that would be complicated for the user to access manually.[6] One example is the Google Search widget, which simply opens up the user's web browser and performs a Google search. Other widgets, like Wikipedia, grab the contents of web pages and display them within Dashboard. Some widgets can also serve as games, using Adobe Flash (or another multimedia authoring program) to create games just as if they were in a web browser. It is also possible for Mac users to create their own widgets using built-in software.
Once all of these files are in the root of a directory, it is given a name and the extension ".wdgt", and then it can be opened up in Dashboard as a widget. More complex widgets may also include a Cocoa widget plugin (for platform-specific functionality), one or more JavaScript files (for text scrolling, preferences, etc.) or multiple images (for personalized select menus or buttons).
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard includes an application called Dashcode, which is a more user-friendly way of creating widgets. Another new feature of Leopard is called "Web Clip" which lets users easily create widgets from parts of a webpage.[8] For example, during the WWDC 2007 keynote, Steve Jobs made widgets out of the following: the featured news headlines on Yahoo.com, the top ten most searched terms on Google, the Photo of the Day on National Geographic, the Dilbert comic strip, and the box office information from Rotten Tomatoes. The user can also customize the border to further personalize the widgets.
After the Macworld 2006 keynote, Steve Jobs also announced four new widgets (Ski Report, People Finder, Google Search, and ESPN), as well as significant updates to the Phone Book and Calendar widgets. All of these are available through the Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger update.
In addition, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, released in late 2007, includes new widgets. One of these is Web Clip, which allows any user to turn a rectangular section of any webpage into a widget (This, however, only works with the Safari web browser). The widget updates as the website does, and all links and other interactive material in the widget's selection of the webpage works as if the website is being accessed from Safari. Another new widget is Movies, which allows users to find currently playing movies at local theaters, view trailers, and purchase tickets directly from Dashboard. In Mac OS X 10.7 Lion the Phone Book and iTunes Controller widgets were removed
Apple has never announced support for the installation of Dashboard widgets on iOS. Even though, in June 2008, an unannounced update of Dashcode that was packaged with the iPhone SDK allowed for the creation of iPhone-oriented web widgets, it is unknown if this version of Dashcode would support the creation of AJAX-driven mobile widgets that could be installed natively on iOS.
It has been demonstrated that installing Dashboard widgets on a jailbroken iOS device is possible in theory, but most desktop-oriented widgets are not oriented to usage or interaction on iOS's multi-touch screen-oriented interface; they may also rely on DashboardClient's widget JavaScript object, which is not part of iOS.
On June 2, 2014, as part of their announcement of iOS 8, Apple announced that in the "Today" view (which is accessible by swiping down from the status bar) will be able to have downloadable widgets from the App Store.[13] While not the same desktop-oriented widgets that are found in Dashboard, this represented the first time that widgets became available officially (i.e., without jailbreaking) on iOS.
On June 22, 2020, during the WWDC Keynote Address, Apple introduced widgets for iOS 14. These widgets can be placed on the homescreen, and can be resized. Users can stack up to 10 widgets, or choose a "Smart Stack" widget which will change depending the user's activity. [14]
Big Sur has plenty of other new features to look forward in addition to widgets, including a new design, improved Messages capabilities, a revamped and faster version of Safari, a new Control Centre, plus several other innovations. Take a look at our macOS Big Sur vs Catalina to see how your Mac will improve when you install Big Sur later this year.
The only missing piece of the Dashboard environment was the easy way you could browse for widgets for Mac, download, and install them, all with just a click. Even though the easy install is gone, the method we described, of dragging and dropping a widget into a widgets folder, is pretty easy on its own.
Additionally, some Mac widgets make use of Java and require the use of a Java runtime environment. If you need to use Java, make sure you install the most recent version available from Oracle, and that you keep it up to date.
The problem could be the service the weather widgets are using to provide the weather information. Recently some of the popular weather services changed the API used by the developers to access the weather data, or they changed the fee structure making it to expansive for many developers to continue to provide the service.
Is there any way to have the Dashboard widgets that you create yourself from Safari have access to cookies? For instance if I log into a site in Safari, can I still be logged in in the Dashboard version of the site? This used to work prior to Mojave.
macOS Catalina no longer supports Dashboard. We recommend switching to our full Deliveries for Mac app, which includes a Notification Center widget, a menu bar icon, and keyboard shortcuts for quick access.
In general I find Mac apps to be superior in usability and looks, but this is one type of app where nearly every attempt I've seen on OS X veers towards "personal wiki" (too much), or online synching (don't need), or just plain clunky (dashboard widget).
Don't use stickies, especially the widget ones that come with the computer because if you click the checkmark box they disapear and you loose all your information. Unless there is a majic way of recovering the data.
Pros:1. A nice interface with a widget. A click will bring it all and another click will hide it all. No accidental delete. Easy to use hide options.2.Resize, start on login options.3."Make on top" option with a nice pin button. (ONE THAT IS REALLY HELPFUL)4."Make translucent on inactive", "Hide on inactive" options.
At the end of 2020, Apple released a major new version of its operating system: macOS Big Sur. This version introduces new wigdgets, that are completely different from the ones you might see in previous versions of macOS. They are still located in the notification center, but they now come in 3 different sizes so that you can choose the layout that suits you best. In 2021, macOS Monterey keeps the same widgets.
To add a new widget, simply click on the preview of the relevant widget and it will be added to your notification center (or click on the button ). The small symbols allow to toggle the preview of the widget in its different sizes. Note that not all widgets offer different sizes and the information displayed may vary from size to size.
Some widgets can be customized: when you are in edit mode, just click on an existing widget to display the options. When you are simply viewing the notification center, right-click on the widget to display a menu that will give you the option to choose the size, remove the widget or even display customization options. You now know everything about the new widgets. Now we are going to bring you a list of the 10 best widgets for macOS Big Sur.
TrashMe 3 is a powerful cleaner and uninstaller for macOS. You can easily uninstall any app with all its related files, search for duplicate files, clean system caches and find junk files. Latest version also offers two new widgets: one to monitor your disk usage, and another to monitor the battery status of your Mac, bluetooth accessories and even your AirPods! [Download the app]
With this application you can promptly access tracking information for 300 delivery services, including UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, TNT, LaserShip, Aramex, OnTrac, China Post, SingPost and many other postal services. The macOS app comes with a beautiful widget which can show the tracking status of your parcel. [Download the app]
The award-winning Things app helps you plan your day, manage your projects, and make real progress toward your goals. Things is tailored to the Mac with deep system integrations as well, and now offers customizable widgets for macOS Big Sur. [Download the app]
Orbit will let you keep track of how you spend your time, get an overview of where your time is spent and create invoices based on your tracked time. Available on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone, Orbit offers two beautiful widgets for macOS Big Sur: one for your active timer and one for the details of the most recent timer. [Download the app] 2ff7e9595c
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