Google’s new Create My Widget tool is ‘the first step in generative UI’ — and as an iPhone user, I’m not sure how iOS 27 can compete with Android 17

The 2026 edition of The Android Show was a dizzying display of AI-related buzzwords (I’m still not 100% sure of the difference between Gemini Intelligence and Personal Intelligence), but of all the Android 17 features announced during the pre-Google I/O broadcast, I’m particularly excited by Create My Widget.

Custom widgets have been a feature of Android since 2009 (in the resizable, interactive sense), but in Android 17, Google is “taking the first step in generative UI” by adding Gemini's AI powers into the widget-making process.

Create My Widget will let you build custom widgets by simply describing the type of widget you want using natural language. Yes, really. Google gave prompt examples such as “countdown to my first marathon” and “suggest three high-protein meal prep recipes every week," to which Create My Widget served up some genuinely useful-looking results.

Latest Videos From

It’s true that apps like KWGT and Widgetopia already give Android users plenty of widget customization options, but these widgets still rely on predefined data formulas like the weather, battery percentage, and stock market performance (unless you’re comfortable developing your own code-based widgets).

Create My Widget, on the other hand, pulls data from your calendar, inbox, and messaging apps (privately, of course) to deliver widgets that are genuinely personalized to you. And as an iPhone user, I don’t see how iOS can compete with this level of first-party personalization.

At WWDC 2025, Apple brushed away criticism towards its lack of AI progress by dazzling iPhone fans with a visual overhaul of iOS — but it can only use that trick once. At WWDC 2026 in June, the company must finally deliver on the promise of Siri 2.0 and bring meaningful agentic AI features to the table, lest iOS 27 look thoroughly medieval in comparison to Android 17.

And Create My Widget is far from the only useful AI tool coming to Android 17.

We’ve rounded up the best Android 17 features announced at The Android Show in a separate article, but Google’s new Gemini Intelligence umbrella includes multi-step task automation — which, if it works as promised, could be like having a PA in your pocket — Gemini integration in Chrome, improved Autofill capabilities, and a new Rambler tool for more accurate speech-to-text conversion.

It’s noteworthy, too, that all of these tools have been announced before Google I/O proper, which is scheduled to kick off on May 19. By the time WWDC 2026 rolls around on June 8, Apple’s competition may look even more formidable than it does now (although it's worth remembering that Google is now Apple's AI partner— though we don't yet know the details of that relationship).

Google says Gemini Intelligence features, including Create My Widget, will “roll out in waves starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer,” and “will become available across your Android watch, car, glasses, and laptops later this year.”

For the latest on what else was revealed at Google’s Android Show event, check out our deep dives into the new Googlebook laptops and the redesigned Android Auto.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.