widgets: design tips and mandatory requirements!

Design Tips:
- maximum recommended size for a widget (exported - .wgt): 1MB!
- widgets can support resolutions 240 x 320 , 240 x 400 , 480 x 800;
- for multi-touch areas a minimum touch area of 35 x 35 pixels must be secured;
- The "Back" button allows the user to return to a previous stage and is an essential button for the widget.
- Network widgets require a "Refresh" button.
- A loading image(gif) is required. Displaying the widget's version is recommended. The updating process is an essential element of a network widget. A "version update" button should also be provided to enable users to update to the latest version of the widget if they so desire.
- Use bmp files as replacements on devices that don't support PNG files.

PNG
1. Although PNG files support 256 level 8-bit transparency, this significantly increases image size. Therefore, Samsung recommend using 1-bit transparency,
similar to GIF format.
2. Although PNG supports true color, its lossless compression produces overly large files as the number of colors increases. Therefore, Samsung recommend
adjusting the work palette to decrease the number of colors (under 256) within an acceptable range without sacrificing quality.
3. When saving PNG files, a preview file is also saved, resulting in a larger size. Prevent this by choosing the "save for web" option and minimize file size.
4. For images with few colors, PNG-8 is not necessarily a better option than PNG-24. Samsung recommend saving in both formats and choosing whichever is smaller.
5. Utilize optimization programs such as OptiPNG or Pngcrush to recompress images without losing any information.

Widgets Elements
Figure 1. Widget Elements


Depth 2 supports both sub and full mode, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Full Mode / Sub Mode


Mandatory Requirements
For Samsung, these requirements absolutely must be met to create widgets:

1. Depth 1 Widget Grid (widget size)
Depth 1 Widget Area Guide / 240x 320, 240 x 400
Available sizes: 58x65, 58x130, 116x65, 116x130, 174x65, 58x195, 116x195, 174x195, 174x130
Depth 1 Widget Area Guide / 480 x 800
116x129, 232x129, 348x129, 116x258, 232x258, 348x258, 116x387, 232x387, 348x387

2. Widget Icon Size (shadow included)
Widget Icon Size (shadow included)
240 x 320: 44 x 44
240 x 400: 50 x 50
480 x 800: 96 x 96

3. Rounded upper corners for widget in full mode and Content Area by Resolution

Figure 3. Rounded upper corners and content area


4. Soft Key Policy
For 240 x 320 and 240 x 400 size: 37px;
For 480 x 800 size: 74px;

Now, my tip time :)
If you really want to see your widget available in More Widgets, you MUST follow these mandatory requirements.

Thanks for your visit! :)

Next post: Second Widget (more complex)!

Feel free to ask/suggest/comment.
Twitter: @oliveiraeduardo