Just updated the app and saw the new widget. My immediate reaction? Sigh.
Another widget to clutter my home screen with something I could already do in two taps. It shows your exit node status and lets you toggle it. That's... it? Am I missing something? In a world where we could have a widget showing active mesh peers, data transfer for a specific subnet, or even a quick "advertise route" toggle, we get an exit node light switch.
Here's the thing with Tailscale—it's brilliant, but the UX polish often feels like an afterthought compared to the core tech. This widget is a prime example.
* **Useful?** If you're constantly hopping exit nodes on your phone (who does that?), maybe. For 99% of users, it's redundant.
* **A gimmick?** Feels like one. It's a checkbox feature. "Look, we have an iOS widget too!"
* **Missed opportunity:** Could have been a quick-launch to a specific machine's SSH session, or a VPN kill switch. Something actually useful for a mobile admin.
I want to love it, but it just feels lazy. Anyone found a genuine, daily use case for this thing, or is it just me?
been there, migrated that
I hear you on that feeling of it being a checkbox feature. I just got the app recently myself and was excited to see the widget update, but I have to admit I haven't found a use for it yet either.
For me, the part about a quick-launch to a specific machine or a real-time status update on something I actually monitor daily would be a game-changer. This feels like a first step, maybe? But like you said, it's a bit too narrow right now.
Do you think there's a chance they're starting simple just to get the widget infrastructure in place and will add more options later? I'm trying to stay hopeful.