Aside from the new start menu, one of the defining features of Windows 11 is the widgets panel, but this is not very exciting because all widgets are created by Microsoft and are limited in scope, functionality and customization, which makes It’s not much different from the News and Interests popup on Windows 10. That may be about to change, however, according to some evidence, Windows developer FireCube has uncovered from Microsoft’s App Store policies.
It looks like the API will be open and regular app developers will be able to create widgets. Widgets are even supported from the official services page, which makes them somewhat similar to Live Tiles in Windows 10. Of course, Microsoft recommends that developers upload widgets to the Microsoft Store to increase discovery rates. It looks like Microsoft will also offer what they call the Widget Board, which will display widgets that can be installed.
Information about third party widgets, publishing widgets and more. Looks like Microsoft is soon going to announce third party widgets officially.#Windows11 pic.twitter.com/ASRD98IMI6
— FireCube (@FireCubeStudios) January 16, 2022
So it seems likely that these widgets will be built on top of common web-based development language technologies, although this has yet to be confirmed. Third-party support should make Windows 11 gadgets more attractive, although Microsoft’s support for major developers at this level has been somewhat lacking on the Windows platform in recent years.