recently switched to an iPhone
as my daily driver. This is my second switch across the pond, after
close to a year in the land of the droid. I’m settling in, slowly. I’m
enjoying the thoughtfully designed reading apps, and the indie puzzle
games that only seem to exist on iOS.
But I’ve been constantly frustrated by one simple thing over the past week. That’s turning on 3G when I step out. I’m not one of those people who keeps 3G turned on all the time (battery anxiety). So I have to do it manually. In Android, it’s as easy as swiping down the notification drawer and tapping the “Data” button.
On iOS, though, I never got used to searching for the Settings app, and navigating two more menus.
This morning, however, I saw a light. In the form of Notification Center widgets. Like most great discoveries of our time, this too was accidental. I wanted to add a calendar to the Today view in Notification Center and discovered something awesome.
Wdgts, my app of choice for all things NC widgets (calendar, calculator, battery and more), at some point in the recently past, added the ability to launch apps. It’s not the greatest implementation out there (as a pure app launcher widget, I’d say Launcher is still better).
But the fact that Wdgts lets me add a shortcut to the Cellular page sold me. I just pull down the Notification Center (even works from the lockscreen), tap the “Cellular” button from the widget and boom, I’m in the “Mobile Data” page where I just need to flip a switch.
Side note: Yes, Launcher also has this option but it’s a part of the paid $2.99 upgrade. In Wdgts, the feature is free.
Tap the “+” button and from the “Quick Access” section, select “Cellular”.
Now, it’s time to enable the widget.
For that, swipe down on the Notification Center, scroll down, tap the “Edit” button, from the list, find “App Launcher” and tap the green button next to it. Use the handlebar next to the widget name to rearrange it or pull it to the top. Tap “Done” and you’re all set.
But I’ve been constantly frustrated by one simple thing over the past week. That’s turning on 3G when I step out. I’m not one of those people who keeps 3G turned on all the time (battery anxiety). So I have to do it manually. In Android, it’s as easy as swiping down the notification drawer and tapping the “Data” button.
On iOS, though, I never got used to searching for the Settings app, and navigating two more menus.This morning, however, I saw a light. In the form of Notification Center widgets. Like most great discoveries of our time, this too was accidental. I wanted to add a calendar to the Today view in Notification Center and discovered something awesome.
Wdgts, my app of choice for all things NC widgets (calendar, calculator, battery and more), at some point in the recently past, added the ability to launch apps. It’s not the greatest implementation out there (as a pure app launcher widget, I’d say Launcher is still better).
But the fact that Wdgts lets me add a shortcut to the Cellular page sold me. I just pull down the Notification Center (even works from the lockscreen), tap the “Cellular” button from the widget and boom, I’m in the “Mobile Data” page where I just need to flip a switch.
Side note: Yes, Launcher also has this option but it’s a part of the paid $2.99 upgrade. In Wdgts, the feature is free.
Setting It Up
Once you’ve downloaded the app, open it and choose the “App Launcher” option.Tap the “+” button and from the “Quick Access” section, select “Cellular”.
Now, it’s time to enable the widget.
For that, swipe down on the Notification Center, scroll down, tap the “Edit” button, from the list, find “App Launcher” and tap the green button next to it. Use the handlebar next to the widget name to rearrange it or pull it to the top. Tap “Done” and you’re all set.
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