Is This How Apple Will Bring OS X’s Dashboard To iOS 5?

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We’ve seen and loved Jan-Michael Cart’s incredible iOS 5 concept videos before, but his latest might be our favorite yet: it shows how Apple could bring OS X’s Dashboard feature to iOS 5.

Bringing widgets to the iPhone isn’t a new idea, but it’s never made much sense to us before seeing Cart’s video: aren’t apps really just fuller featured widgets? By making the widget dashboard a part of iOS’s search screen, though, Cart shows exactly how widgets could fit into the iOS paradigm, fleshing out the functionality of one of the lesser used sections of the home screen.

The idea is simple. When you press your iPhone’s home button and swipe to the right, you’re currently brought to iOS’s search screen. Under iOS 5, the search screen will also feature a dashboard for widgets, one widget per screen. Additional widgets can be installed on additional dashboard pages: just keep swiping to the right. And if you want to search your iPhone or iPad, nothing changes: the widget just fades out gracefully, revealing the search results.

Ultimately, we love this concept, but we’re not entirely sold. What’s the advantage of swiping to a lesser function widget when it’s just as much work to launch a dedicated app? Still, at least it would give the iOS Search Screen more to do. I’ll only really get on board widgets when they run on the iOS lock screen, though.

[via MacStories]

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