Slack has become the latest online collaboration platform to add widgets to its smartphone app as users call for more intuitive ways to interact with their content.

Great for your business smartphone, but not so good for switching off (unless you link different lock and home screens to focus modes), Slack has rolled out a total of four widget types.

The first three take advantage of home screen widgets, which have been available since iOS 14, with the fourth integrating into the lock screen thanks to a more recent update in iOS 16.

Slack adds four new iOS widgets

The first home screen widget, which occupies a 2×2 space, is the ‘Catch up’ widget, which provides a quick overview of unread messages and mentioned without needing to open the app. Tapping the widget also takes users to the corresponding section of the Slack app.

Two other home screen widgets, badged ‘Status,’ allow users to change their digital status quickly. The smaller of the two, another 2×2 widget, is a hot key that launches the status selector within the app where users can pick from predetermined or custom messages. 

A larger 4×2 widget includes three predetermined messages which can be controlled directly from the widget, and a fourth option for creating a custom status, which launches the app. When a message is displayed, both ‘Status’ widgets have the option to clear the message without opening the app.

The fourth and final option, a simple app launcher icon, can be displayed on the lock screen as one of the four widgets that sit beneath the clock. It’s a compact 1×1 widget.

With the additions, Slack aims to make it even easier for users to stay connected and carry out simpler tasks more efficiently, however with productivity and worker rights on the tips of regulators’ tongues globally and many workers calling for the ‘right to disconnect,’ the call to remove work apps from personal phones is on the rise.

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