iGizmoz is a clever, new (ish) iPhone app that gives you a nice set of widget-like applets to work with in a single app. iGizmoz calls them gizmos (hence the name I assume) – but they look and act pretty much just like widgets.
The app contains 11 gizmos / widgets – which are:
- World clock
- Sticky notes
- Calendar
- Search tool
- Speed dial
- Countdown
- Stopwatch
- Slideshow
- Swinging creature
- Tic tac toe game
- Flashlight
You can arrange the widgets on the scrollable screen (horizontal scrolling) of iGizmoz. A simple double-tap on any widget puts you into Edit mode, where you can customize its settings or remove it from the screen. You can also tap a discreet pullout menu for editing / adding widgets at the bottom left of the screen.
To remove a widget you just tap the little X above it, as you do with apps on your home screens. To add one, you just tap and hold and pull it to its desired position.
There are 19 background images to choose from for use within the app – or you can use any image from within your photo libraries. I tried out my current main background for a bit:
I found several of the widgets quite handy right off the bat – my current set (shown in the screencap at the top of this post) is Sticky notes, a Countdown timer to St. Patties Day, the Search bar – which does a quick Google search without leaving the app (with an option to jump out to Safari once results are shown), a Speed dial entry for my wife, and a little slideshow frame with a few Xmas lights pics.
I’ve seen a few widget sort of apps for the iPhone – but this is the best one I’ve seen yet. One obvious drawback, due to Apple’s restrictions on 3rd party apps running in the background, is that the app can’t be invoked with a hotkey or similar as on the desktop – so you’d need to add it your dock or first home screen to make it more accessible.
If you are jailbroken though, you can enable this little guy for background running with the Backgrounder app, and then get it to popup via a double-tap of the home button or a swipe on the screen, with the aid of your favorite app switching tool. Three very good ones are mQuickDo, Kirikae, and Multifl0w.
If you’re a fan of working with widgets, then iGizmoz is well worth a look. It works well, is very easy and intuitive to use, and has a good set of widgets / gizmos to work with. Hopefully we’ll see a few more added in future updates.
I spotted this app thanks to a very good post on by Brooke over at Apple iPhone School.
You can find iGizmoz in the App Store now, priced at $0.99.
*** This app was independently purchased by the post author in the iPhone App Store. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the "About" page.
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Great..looks good. And would im sure be best used on a jailbroken phone.____Q: Why count down to St Patties?
LOL – just for something to mess with when trying out the widgets. Also, I'm part Irish, a big fan of Guinness, and it's been a favorite holiday for my brother and I for a lot of years.
Very good…ha!…it only caught my attn being St Patties is my bday, and now i know how many days i have, and it is on of the most fun holidays of the year
Installed the app as well, will be also doing a review also…….Good Review, thx!
My pleasure on the review. Great day to have a birthday!
Patrick,
Can you still use Overboard / Orbit while using this app? Just wondering… Thanks & nice review!
Frank – I imagine so, don't see why not, it's just a pretty standard app. Haven't tested because I'm using PogoPlank and have just one home screen.
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