In recent days, rumors have been circulating online that iOS 14 widgets can steal user information by monitoring what they type. However, this does not seem to be the case, and there are restrictions that can be applied to the data that widgets can access.
The post referring to the event has gone viral on Facebook and has also been shared on other platforms. On Twitter, a screenshot of the original post has over 7,000 retweets and 8,000 likes.
Another misconception circulating is that home screen widgets are responsible for password breaches. This is due to the fact that users receive a notification upon update that their passwords may have been involved in a data breach.
Passwords have likely been compromised before anyone even installed iOS 14. Apple added data breach notifications to the built-in iOS password manager as a way to keep users more informed about the security of their various online accounts.
Having seen the above, many users believe that widgets contain some kind of key logger, which is not true, as it is technically impossible for widgets to have access to keyboard data or almost any other data about you.
Essentially, widgets run in the background to update the display content at a predetermined interval. Once the content is updated, the background process stops completely, ensuring there is no way for a widget to continuously collect data.
If widgets were allowed to run continuously without restrictions, there would not only be privacy implications but also a dramatic impact on battery life and device performance.
The Facebook post cites Widgetsmith as the cause of these issues, but again, there is no evidence behind these allegations. Widgetsmith developer David Smith has denied the allegations, saying he can “categorically and absolutely” state that these rumors are not true. You can find Widgetsmith’s full privacy policy, which explains that Widgetsmith was designed “from the ground up to ensure that data remains completely private.”
