So, you’ve just installed iOS 8 and heard a lot about third-party widgets and keyboards. Given that both of these features are brand new and previously unheard of on Apple’s mobile software, you may be unsure as to how you might go about installing these much talked-about new treasures, and so below, we’ve got a little guide that should help you along the way.

As a user of all three of the major mobile platforms in almost equal measure, one element of Google’s Android that I particularly enjoy is the fact that widgets are abundant. Neither Windows Phone nor iOS support custom widgets natively, but thanks to the jailbreak community, those on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch have been able to indulge in recent times. A very promising new tweak on the scene by the name of ProWidgets allows iOS device users to enrich the experience of using Apple’s mobile OS with a bunch of great widgets, and not only are they functionally sound and infinitely useful, but also aesthetically in-keeping with the look and feel of iOS 7.

Widgets are wonderful things, but if you’re on an iOS device, they’re few and far between. In fact, the only way you can really enjoy a widget on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is to jailbreak, and since we’re now in the midst of a universal untethered break across the board, now would be as good a time as any for widget fans on Apple’s mobile OS to stock up. If you’re of the social networking persuasion, then Share Widget, which allows you to post to multiple platforms in one fell swoop, may be of interest to you. It is a Cydia-based tweak, and you can check the details after the leap.

One of the benefits that is often associated with the Android platform is that users have the option of interacting with a number of different native and third-party widgets directly on the device. Widgets are clearly a fantastic and much loved feature on Android powered devices, but they are designed for a very specific purpose, and it sometimes feels that they aren’t really used to their full potential. The Widgets Everywhere package is one developer’s attempt at putting widgets back to their rightful place, by not only making them useful once again, but also easily accessible from anywhere in the OS.

Being both an Android and iOS user, I would count myself among the apparent few that actually enjoys both platforms in almost equal measure. One of the great advantages of Google’s mobile OS over Apple’s is the ability to download and install widgets, and Beautiful Widgets for Android, which has just got a free version over at the Play Store, stays true to its name in offering a deluge of delicious widgets for you to choose from.

Ever wanted to be able to launch widgets and interact with your Android phone just by flicking it in a certain direction? Now you can, though the list of functions is a little smaller than we would perhaps like. Still, you can’t have everything in life can you?

With the Dashboard X tweak hitting Cydia recently, and looking forward to become one of the most popular packages we have seen for quite a while, the question which is surely going to be asked is – what widgets are currently available for Dashboard X? There are very few, in fact only two, I believe, at the time of writing, widgets that were actually created specifically for Dashboard X. But luckily for us all, the majority of Notification Center widgets work flawlessly with Dashboard X.

We’ve said it before, and we’re not afraid to say it again and if required, once more. Notification Center is quite possibly one of the most important additions to iOS since multitasking and, ironically, it’s also one of the most underused aspects of Apple’s latest release.

Windows users are probably familiar with the concept of gadgets: mini-applications that run on the desktop, often used to display important data. As most of you know, however, the technology hasn’t really taken off as much as Microsoft would have hoped. Pokki is a new platform that displays mini-applications on the Windows 7 taskbar. Excited yet?

Earlier today, we reported that Apple had been granted its long-awaited multi-touch patent. Now, many have dug into the patent to find references to a possible future feature: custom widgets. Could Apple have left such a clear clue on purpose?

You may remember last week when we told you about a new jailbreak widget for iOS 5’s new Notification Center called WeeTwitter, which once installed brought your Twitter stream, @-replies and more to Apple’s notification system.