Summary

  • Samsung’s new Galaxy AI resembles Google Now, aiming to provide timely information and assistance based on user habits.
  • One UI 7 features the Now Bar, offering quick access to workouts, directions, music, and weather – similar to Google Now.
  • Samsung emphasizes privacy with its Personal Data Engine and Knox Vault to safeguard personal data, a feature Google Now lacked.



If mimicry is the greatest form of flattery, then Google should be blushing as Samsung heaps adulation upon it. Samsung‘s new Galaxy AI features feels an awful lot like the Google Now of yesteryear. Like that much-beloved Google feature, Galaxy AI aims to provide users with timely information and assistance based on their habits and data.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra next to a plant.

Related

Hands-on: One UI 7 is so good, it might make me switch to Samsung

Samsung’s next update is looking like a win

4

In a news release on the Samsung Newsroom blog, the South Korean tech giant talked about some of its newest One UI 7 features. This includes the Now Bar, which integrates personal everyday actions and frequently used apps into the lock screen. The Now Bar serves as an access point for managing workouts, getting directions, listening to music, and finding out the weather. That sure sounds like the old Google Now experience.



AI-powered operating systems are here

A cartoon hand holds a Galaxy S24 Ultra and several pop ups run along the side with different functions.

Source: Samsung

Samsung launched the One UI 7 beta program a few weeks ago. The operating system has been met with praise by most people who have tried it, even if it is decidedly iOS-flavored. One UI 7 has Galaxy AI baked right into it. Samsung calls it the first true AI platform.

The Now Bar uses on-device machine learning to figure out what users want before the user asks for it. It pulls data from apps and the phone itself to accomplish this. So, if you have a flight booked for 7 pm tonight, the Now Bar will offer to order an Uber a few hours beforehand. Or, if you workout every day at noon, it will provide you with a workout playlist on YouTube Music or Spotify and track your workout session for you.



Samsung says all this data is private

Samsung emphasizes privacy in its press release. It says it uses a Personal Data Engine, which ensures on-device, cross-app personal data protection. This engine uses the Knox Vault for secure storage and cryptography to safeguard personal data. That’s one thing Google Now never had.

One UI 7 is already shaping up to be one of the biggest OS releases we’ve seen in a few years. Bringing back Google Now, in the form of a Galaxy AI-powered Now Bar, is something many will be excited to try out. But many more may have reservations about the AI and the use of their personal data, no matter how much Samsung tries to assuage their fears. One UI 7 is set to launch officially with the Galaxy S25 series sometime in January.