Published: September 22, 2023
Alexa Widgets allow skills to be easily viewable and accessible on most Echo Show devices (see On devices). They are a glanceable view that let customers perform quick actions without leaving the home screen or widget panel and launching into the full skill. Widgets should also aim for a comfortable density of information.
Customers can interact with widgets by touch. Depending on the action, the widget may self-update on the current screen or ingress into a full-screen skill experience. Once your widget is created, review the Design Guidelines Checklist prior to launch.
In this section you'll learn about…
Starting out with widgets
- How users view and use widgets
- Understand supported devices
- Learn about Alexa Presentation Language
- Explore widget responsive templates
- Review Widget Tech Docs
Widget design
Building your widget
- Use widget responsive templates
- Use widget responsive components
- Use widget responsive motion components
- Review the Design Guidelines Checklist before launch
Distributing your widget
- Review Widget Detail Page guidelines
- [COMING SOON] Create a Widget Shortcut
See Tech Docs for more information on how to add a widget to your skill.
There are four levels to widget organization:
Widget Gallery: On the home screen, customers can either swipe vertical on the Echo Show 15, or right on all other devices, to open the widget gallery where they can browse through and discover new widgets. See Widget Design Guidelines to find more information on widget gallery guidelines.
Detail Page: If a widget interests them, customers can click on a thumbnail on the widget gallery to go to the detail page to see more information. See Widget Design Guidelines to find more information on detail page guidelines.
Favorite Widget Panel (FWP): After a customer adds a widget, it gets placed in the Favorite Widget Panel (FWP) on Echo Show devices for customers to access. There can be up to 10 widgets added on Echo Show devices.
[COMING SOON] Widget Shortcuts: Widget Shortcuts are available on Echo Show 5, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 10 devices and provide access to a widget directly from the customer’s Home screen. The widget is displayed over the Home screen in the form of a QuickView overlay and can be easily dismissed to return back to Home. See Widget Guidelines for more information.
Widgets: Customers can interact with individual widgets from the Favorite Widget Panel.
Today, many Alexa devices such as Echo Show 15, 10 (2nd & 3rd generation), 8 (1st & 2nd generation) fully support widgets. Medium widgets will scale across devices, see more information on sizing below.
Widgets are not currently available on the Echo Show 5, first generation of Echo Show 10, and Echo Spot.
Medium widget size
The Medium widget viewport is the baseline size for widgets. When creating a widget, make sure it’s designed to scale in size across the different device viewports.
- Echo Show 15 Portrait: 328 x 552 px
- Echo Show 15 Landscape: 360 x 504 px
- Echo Show 10: 352 x 512 px
- Echo Show 8: 264 x 384 px
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Need a quick resource? Save time building and bug fixing your widget with templates!
Templates are built with Alexa Responsive Components that scale across all Echo Show devices, bringing a consistent experience to customers. As you think of the widget’s main purpose, consider whether your widget can be built using one of the following templates or if it needs a custom design. A key benefit of leveraging templates is that your team will spend less time in building and bug fixing since the core ARL components are updated to accommodate the new changes and bug fixing is done by the Alexa team.
Find out more information in the Widget Templates article.
