Widget Launcher is a small Windows app that helps you add all sorts of customizable widgets to your desktop. Once you download and install Widget Launcher from Microsoft Store, you can populate your desktop with helpful tools such as a currency converter, system monitoring, weather updates, and more. Here are the reasons why this app is a great widget launcher.

5 Plenty of options to choose from

It’s got something for everyone

The free version of Widget Launcher only comes with 12 widgets, and at first, it seems that it’s a small selection, but if you think it over, these are the actual widgets you would display on your desktop and commonly use.

Here are some of the most important widgets you would probably add right away:

• Currency Converter - If you need to make currency conversions all the time, this widget provides over 100 currencies to choose from.
• World Clock - When you’re working with people all over the world, you’re probably looking at Google for some time zones all the time. With this widget, you can just set up a couple of time zones, and you will see right away your local time and those time zones instantly.
• CPU Meter - Do you want to monitor the resources consumption? This widget displays the CPU and RAM usage on a clock-like gauge. It doesn't show any numbers, but it has green, yellow, and red zones on the display, so it helps you figure out the overall situation.
• Clocks & Calendar - Widget Launcher comes with two types of clocks (analog and digital) and a simple calendar.
• Besides these, Widget Launcher also has weather, calculator, unit converter, RRS feed viewer, notes, and even a slideshow viewer.

So, these widgets will be right there on your desktop and provide you with instant access to this information. You won’t need to open any browser tabs or apps.

4 Customizable appearance

It’s easy to tweak them to your liking

Unlike standard Windows widgets, Widget Launcher allows advanced customization for the widgets.

In short, you can choose between different widget styles, colors, and sizes. You can change the font and border color, and you can even change its background transparency.

This way, it’s pretty easy to match your desktop theme. I wish they also put a drop shot color clone tool so you can pick the exact color, but you can still do a great job with existing settings.

3 Lightweight and fast performance

The widgets won’t drag down the PC performance

Unlike some widget applications that slow down your system, Widget Launcher is designed to be lightweight and efficient.

I was running seven widgets simultaneously for only about 100MB of RAM and around 10% of CPU usage. You probably won’t use more than three widgets simultaneously and the resource consumption is lower than most similar apps, never mind browsing tabs with the same function.

Another advantage is that the widgets update in real time without lag. This makes Widget Launcher a suitable tool for both casual and power users.

2 Easy installation and usage

You don’t need to be a techie for this

Installing and setting up Widget Launcher is quick and hassle-free:

1. Download Widget Launcher from the Microsoft Store.
2. Open the app and select the widgets you want.
3. Customize the widgets and place them anywhere on your desktop.

You can drag and drop the widgets all over the desktop, and they can even snap to the edges of your screen. Unfortunately, you can't adjust their size. However, for instance, if you snap a widget to cover half of the screen, it will adjust its size to fit the selection.

1 It’s free and regularly updated

It only has 10 second ads

Widget Launcher is completely free to use, but whenever you launch a widget, you will see an ad for about 10 seconds. You will also see that every widget has a limited number of instances.

For instance, you can only launch one CPU Meter and one Currency converter, but you can launch three Weather widgets (with different locations) and up to five World clocks.

If you want to get rid of the ads, you will have to buy a $0.99 monthly subscription or pay a fixed $24.99 for a lifetime subscription. However, the ads are not so disruptive.

In case you want more widgets, the app links to a paid Pro Widgets for Widget Launcher app that will provide the extras for $4.79.

Should I install Widget Launcher?

In conclusion, if you want a customizable, lightweight, and functional tool to enhance your Windows desktop, Widget Launcher is a great choice. It offers the basic widgets you need, smooth performance, easy setup, and it’s free. There might be better widget launchers out there, but I tested this one, and it’s great for me. You might as well give it a shot and see if it’s your cup of tea.