One of the best features of Amazon’s mighty Echo Show 15 is the capability of adding widgets to each user’s home screen. Allowing for quick and easy shortcuts to some of the smart display’s most immersive tools and features, widgets keep the Show 15 organized and optimized for the entire family.
While there aren’t too many widgets available at this time, Amazon has opened widget development up to third-party companies, so we’re bound to see more eventually. But for right now, there are a number of excellent widgets to load on your Echo Show 15, and we decided to shine a light on some of our favorites.
Smart home dashboard
From smart lights to video doorbells, the Echo Show 15 includes a customizable smart devices widget that makes controlling your smart home easier than ever. Once installed, the widget allows you to quickly monitor and control up to six of your smart home’s web-connected products with simple on/off commands and other device functions displayed for each entry.
Maps with integrated traffic conditions
The handy maps widget lets users input addresses to get the best directions from one location to the next. We also love the addition of real-time traffic conditions, allowing you to make smart decisions regarding your daily commute.
Amazon package tracking
Expecting an Amazon delivery? The Amazon package tracking widget keeps tabs on all of your en-route orders, letting you know when to expect your next item and pinging your Echo Show 15 once it arrives.
Calendar and reminders — daily/monthly
There are two calendar widgets in the Echo Show 15. The first combines daily and monthly schedules, while the other is specifically a daily schedule. Both are useful tools for a family. Use the monthly calendar for an overview of the weeks ahead; the daily calendar breaks down everyone’s schedule on an hour-by-hour basis.
Sticky Notes
Sticky Notes lets you pin notes and reminders to the home screen of the Echo Show 15. It can be something as simple as, “Wash the dishes when you get home from school,” or, “I’ve already fed the cat. Don’t believe her lies.” Sticky Notes is perfect for those messages you want to guarantee are seen but maybe don’t warrant sending a text.
To-Do List
Every family has a list of chores that need to be taken care of on a daily basis. Between mopping the floor, carrying out the trash, and cleaning the bathrooms, it seems the work of maintaining a household is never done. The To-Do List widget makes it easy to mark off when those tasks have been accomplished, as well as remind family members of unexpected chores.
Shopping List
No one wants to frantically scour the house just before darting out the door to get groceries. The Shopping List app makes it easy to add items as you discover you need them. Just say, “Alexa, add [item] to shopping list.” You can see the items currently on the list at a glance and pull up the full list in your Alexa app when you’re at the store. When you toss the item in your shopping cart, just mark it off.
Weather
It’s self-explanatory, but everyone needs to know what the weather is like. No one wants to dress for cold weather only for it to heat up mid-day and have you shedding sweaters. The weather widget breaks down the weather in three-hour increments to give you an idea of temperature, rain chance, and more.
With only 19 widgets to choose from, your options are limited — especially when some of those widgets are duplicates of others with only minor variations. Despite the lack of options, the widget function is one of the best parts of the Echo Show 15 and one we hope to see greatly expanded and opened to third-party developers in the future.
