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.