5 One UI 7 options that make me cease lacking my i...

The

release of One UI 7
has been something however easy for Samsung. After starting to roll out the replace on April 10 within the US, the tech big paused it just a few quick days later to handle a

serious bug.

Now, over every week later, Samsung has lastly resumed the rollout, permitting customers to begin downloading One UI 7 once more on

eligible devices
, starting with the Galaxy S24 sequence and the most recent Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip fashions. Extra units, such because the S23 sequence, will obtain it quickly.

Whereas the look forward to One UI 7 has been lengthy, the options it has been full of are nicely definitely worth the wait. I have been lucky sufficient to have had the chance to check One UI 7 on the

Galaxy S25+
for a couple of months now, and listed here are 5 of my favourite options that made me not miss my iPhone, and that you must check out when you obtain the replace in your Galaxy gadget.

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You now add a countdown widget to your house display/app pages

In the event you take pleasure in customizing your telephone display with varied widgets, you will love the brand new widget choices Samsung has launched with One UI 7. For starters, Samsung has added three new widget measurement choices for its default apps, resembling Calendar, Clock, Climate, and extra, permitting you to regulate their measurement to your choice. When you place the widget, you may drag its corners to resize it.

One other new widget characteristic is the choice to customise its form, which suggests your widgets now not should resemble rounded rectangles and squares; you may add a little bit of aptitude if you want. Merely faucet the widget, choose settings, and you may see all of the completely different form choices accessible.

My favourite new widget possibility is the countdown characteristic for Calendar, which lets you add an occasion to the Calendar widget that counts all the way down to particular events, resembling birthdays, holidays, and particular occasions. As an illustration, I created a countdown widget that tracked the times till the Andor season two premiere.

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4

Now Bar

You view reside actions in your lock display

One of many first new stuff you’ll discover instantly with One UI 7 is the

Now Bar
. It is a new pill-shaped widget on the lock display that shows all of the reside actions occurring in your telephone. For instance, for those who’re enjoying a tune

on Spotify
, it is going to be displayed within the Now Bar, permitting you to pause playback, navigate backward, or ahead in your playlist, all while not having to unlock your telephone or open the app.

What I like most concerning the Now Bar is its placement. It is situated proper on the backside of the lock display, making it tremendous straightforward to entry, particularly if you’re utilizing your telephone with one hand. In the event you faucet on any of the reside actions, you may broaden them to see extra choices accessible. It additionally helps Google Sports activities, so for those who comply with any sports activities groups on Google, the scores of their video games will probably be displayed within the Now Bar. In the event you’re watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper now (go Leafs), it is a should. Among the apps that assist the Now Bar are Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Maps, Clock, Voice Recorder, Samsung Notes, Reside Interpreter, and Samsung Well being. Extra third-party apps are anticipated to assist the Now Bar sooner or later.

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Fast settings and notifications have been separated

With One UI 7, Samsung has adopted a notably Apple-like method to the notification heart and fast settings menu, splitting them into two distinct menus. Beforehand, if you swiped down from the highest of the display, you would be greeted with fast settings choices and notifications. Now, with One UI 7, if you swipe down from the top-left or center of the display, you solely see notifications. Nonetheless, if you swipe down from the top-right, you entry the short settings menu, permitting you to regulate your Wi-Fi settings, activate Airplane mode, activate the flashlight, and extra.

I respect this transformation, as I discover myself hardly ever utilizing the choices within the fast settings menu except I am touring or altering my display brightness. Having one display totally devoted to notifications is far more handy, making it really feel extra like iOS 18, which I am accustomed to coming from my iPhone. Samsung has additionally made extra modifications to the short settings menu, permitting you so as to add extra settings and rearrange the panels on the display.

In the event you choose the previous fashion, the place fast settings and notifications are mixed into one display, you may change it again by opening the Fast Settings menu, tapping the pencil icon, deciding on Panel Settings, and selecting the Collectively possibility quite than Separate.

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2

Lock display customization

You possibly can alter the Clock widget extra freely now

The lock display can also be receiving some love with One UI 7, that includes new customization choices that may make yours much more distinctive and customized. Now you can add a gallery widget to the lock display, permitting you to show photos out of your telephone’s gallery on it. So if you would like an image of your annoying however cute cat in your lock display always, now you can do this. You possibly can even add PNGs to the lock display’s gallery widget, so the photographs will probably be clear and mix in higher together with your lock display’s background.

My favourite new lock display addition with One UI 7 is the flexibility to maneuver the clock face round much more freely. This characteristic is on the market in One UI 6, however One UI 7 introduces many extra choices, permitting you to regulate and scale the clock to match your telephone’s lock display background a lot better. Samsung has additionally added a brand new thickness possibility that permits you to modify the thickness of the clock’s font, together with new animated clock fashion choices. In the event you keep in mind that countdown widget for the house display I discussed earlier, you can even add it to the lock display for any occasions you are excited for.

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1

Residence display upgrades

New app icons and sizes

With One UI 7, Samsung has up to date all its default app icons with contemporary appearances that make them stand out and look extra trendy general. However that is not all Samsung has performed with app icons. In the event you go to the Settings app and choose Residence display, now you can change the dimensions of all of your app icons. You possibly can select between small, medium, and enormous icons, with the default setting set to medium.

Two different new settings have been added to additional customise the house display: the flexibility to show off app labels and widget labels. Because of this for those who now not need to see the names of apps underneath their icons, you may disable them. The result’s a super-clean, minimalistic search for all of your apps on the house display and completely different app pages.

Moreover, now you can enlarge the dimensions of app folders, enabling you to entry apps inside them while not having to open the folders themselves. That is game-changing and one thing I hope Apple adopts for iOS sooner or later. The App Drawer has additionally undergone some modifications, with Samsung relocating the search bar from the highest of the display to the underside for higher usability. Additional, it is now doable to view apps within the App Drawer vertically as an alternative of horizontally by adjusting the kind choice to Alphabetical.

There are a few different honorable mentions I need to give for

other new One UI 7 features,
together with the redesigned digital camera app and new battery safety modes.

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