6 powerful new One UI 7 features every Samsung user needs to try

Samsung has taken a lot of inspiration from iOS in this update, but Android fans need not worry. There are still plenty of unique features that make the Samsung software experience one of a kind. Don’t worry about reading through One UI 7’s extensive changelog, as we’ve collected all our favorite One UI 7 features that will have the biggest impact on your Galaxy experience.

6

Now Bar shows relevant information and actions at a glance

There’s no shame in copying a useful feature

The Now Bar is a horizontal, pill-shaped widget on your lock screen. It can show live information from active apps like music playback and stopwatch timers. It’s not a permanent feature, relevant information appears when needed between the two shortcut buttons on your lock screen. It also shows relevant actions (e.g. skip tracks, pause timers). It uses machine learning to analyze your actions and data and show relevant events (e.g. if it detects you have an early-morning meeting, it’ll prompt you to set an earlier alarm)

It’s a useful tool similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island. But, unlike Dynamic Island, it’s only available for a selection of Samsung’s apps. It’s a nifty feature that everyone will find useful, but we hope to see the third-party support needed to unlock its true power.

5

The separated notification shade and quick settings menu is a breath of fresh air

Samsung gives your eyes a rest

In One UI 7, a single swipe from the top of the screen won’t open the quick settings menu and notification shade. Instead, a swipe down will only display notifications. To open the quick settings menu, you must swipe down from the top right of your screen. You can switch between the two menus by swiping left and right when one is open.

Samsung’s separation of the notification shade and quick settings menu gives all the UI elements more room. Notifications are bolder and spaced out more, while the number of visual quick settings toggles has been increased from 20 to 24. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but the result is a cleaner and visually appealing interface that builds on the UI refresh across One UI 7

4

Better looking and more customizable UI

Set up your Samsung phone in the way that you want

The redesigned notification shade and quick settings menu also show off One UI 7’s vibrant color palette. It’s a subtle change, but it makes all your phone’s menus and windows feel better integrated. It won’t blow your mind, but it’s a noticeable upgrade.

On top of this visual refresh, Samsung has added more customization options to One Ui 7’s lock screen. You can choose from more widgets, including live weather and battery status, and select more clock sizes and placement options.

Finally, One UI 7 includes an app drawer. If you weren’t a fan of Samsung’s horizontal layout, you can switch to the new vertical app drawer which displays a scrollable menu of all your apps. If you’ve used a Pixel phone, you know what to expect here.

3

Notification filters reduce clutter

You no longer need to wade through irrelevant notifications

Buried in the Settings app is a feature called Filter notifications. This new tool is one of the most useful features in One UI 7, we all suffer from notification spam but don’t want to miss anything important.

You can filter out old notifications received more than a few days ago, notifications that show an app is running in the background, and minimized notifications. These filtered notifications are grouped underneath your regular notifications. Tap on this group to show all your filtered notifications.

This is one of the most useful changes in One UI 7, as it helps declutter your screen without removing vital information. When paired with the separated notification shade and quick settings menu, you should find you are rarely overwhelmed with information when you open your phone.

2

Good Lock includes more features and is now available globally

There are more customization options than ever

Good Lock has long been a staple for Samsung users looking to customize every inch of their phone, but until One UI 7, it’s only been available in select countries through the Galaxy Store. However, One UI 7 will see the app launch worldwide on the Galaxy Store and the Play Store.

Inside the Good Lock app, there are more tools to play with. There are far too many to list here, but you can explore the full changelog in our OneUI 7 Good Lock update coverage. Here are some of the biggest new features you can use:

• Place icons and widgets on the home screen without adhering to a grid.
• Save recorded videos directly to an external storage device via USB-C.
• Add stickers to your home screen.
• Create custom app icon shapes.
• Manually classify apps as games to apply Game Booster support.

1

Choose an adaptive charging option that suits your phone usage best

Increase your phone’s battery lifespan, or keep it topped up

Android phones offer various charging options that extend the lifespan of your battery. If you plug your phone in and it continually tries to charge past 100%, it will degrade the battery much quicker than if you unplugged it before it hit 100%. However, this degradation only sets in after a few years, so if you like to upgrade your phone every one or two years, you don’t need to limit your phone’s battery life with adaptive charging settings.

One UI 7 includes several adaptive charging options. You can limit charging to 80%, cycle the battery between 95% and 100%, or let the phone choose a charging pattern based on your sleep schedule.

One UI 7 is a subtle and powerful update

Samsung has focused on the user experience for One UI 7, and the effort shows. From the redesigned notification shade, to more adaptive charging options, there’s a lot here that you will find useful in your day-to-day lives. If you like to explore the latest AI tools, you’ll also want to give AI-powered Bixby a shot.