Content displayed in the home screen view should be a subset of the most important data from the full screen widget. Although the home screen view is static (a graphical representation), it can be updated dynamically to provide mobile device users with the latest information without having to open the widget on the full screen. Some good uses of the home screen view are to display market indicators from a stock market widget, local forecast from a weather widget, or the next appointment from a calendar widget.
Remember the following when creating content for the home screen.
| Home screen widget content | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| The home screen view is a graphical representation of the WRT widget, and therefore users cannot interact with it. |
|
Data updates may not be consistent due to network access being suspended during a phone call, low battery, and so on. |
Display the time of last update to assist the mobile device user in determining if the data is current. |
The home screen view of the widget uses only a small percentage of the display. |
Limit the amount of data displayed. Placing too much content in the home screen view results in a less than optimal widget. |
The size of the home screen view may vary depending on the state of the device, such as screen orientation (portrait/landscape), the number of widgets on the home screen, and so on. |
Define content so that it scales according to the environment. For
example, use relative values such as a percentage of the window width and
height for defining styles and relative values such as Note: You do not need to define content that scales for home screen widgets on the Nokia N97. The Nokia N97 home screen layout allows for one size widget only, 82 (height) x 312 (width) pixels. The size is the same regardless of how many widgets are displayed in the home screen and the orientation of the device. |