Windows 11 looks to be getting a useful new addition to the widget panel that'll help you keep an eye on the battery life of your devices.
Zac Bowden of Windows Central spotted that there are references to a battery widget in the latest preview builds of Windows 11 - as flagged on Discord - although this functionality isn't actually live in testing yet.
We can see how the widget will work, though, and it will display the battery life of the host device if it's a laptop (of course), as well as the battery levels of any connected peripherals such as Bluetooth keyboards or headphones.
It'll be available on the widget board and also on the Windows 11 lock screen should you wish, with both light and dark themes. All of this is according to the digging done in preview builds, so take it with some seasoning, as these ideas may yet change - Microsoft hasn't implemented it yet, after all.
It seems an obvious widget to bring in, though, and a useful one - the question is more 'why hasn't this been done already?' than anything else. As one Redditor observed with tongue planted firmly in cheek, this is: "Microsoft remembering they have to make an operating system."
As you can't have failed to notice, Microsoft has been busy working on improving Windows 11 across all manner of fronts this year, and in fairness, widgets were never going to be a top priority. They have seen some attention, though, in terms of making the panel more streamlined, but there's been more work applied to other key parts of the interface including the taskbar and Start menu.
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Can the battery widget be added to the Windows 11 lock screen as well as the widget board?
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However, the main focus of the fix Windows 11 campaign right now is to get it running more smoothly on 8GB PCs.
