The iPhone finally gets proper Web widgets

Despite the iPhone app store being weeks away from launch, developer Intelliborn has just released a stellar application for users with jailbroken iPhones. Switchers from Windows Mobile phones who missed the "today" screen that lists a gathering of small bits of information on one screen essentially get the same thing with this app, which will compile weather, e-mail, SMS messages, and even RSS feeds on your phone's screen every time you hit a button to wake your phone up.

You can successfully have about four of the small, single use widgets on the screen at once, and the options allow you to go in and swap which ones you want to use along with what order you want them in. My favorite of the bunch is the RSS reader which will let you browse several headlines (up to 20 at a time). If you find a story you like you can open it in Safari by sliding your finger to the right, which will unlock the phone for you as well. The weather widget is also particularly useful, giving you a six-day forecast for multiple cities in a small, but useful form factor.

The app is controlled by an extensive preferences panel where you can tweak every aspect of each widget, right down to how often each one is updated. Many can even be set to not appear unless there's new content to show--including the ones for e-mail, SMS messages, and items in your news feeds.

This app represents one of the many advancements third-party developers have made to the iPhone's utility. At the same time, it's unfortunate it's currently limited only to those with jailbroken iPhones, since even with the SDK, official third-party apps won't be able to sit passively in the background like this one can. That said, if you've got a jailbroken iPhone, installation is a snap. You can find instructions here.

[via Just Another iPhone Blog]