5 One UI 7 options that make me cease lacking my iPhone

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 large paused it only some brief days later to deal with a

serious bug.

Now, over per week later, Samsung has lastly resumed the rollout, permitting customers to start out 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 gadgets, 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 effectively 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 number of months now, and listed below are 5 of my favourite options that made me not miss my iPhone, and that it’s best to check out when you obtain the replace in your Galaxy machine.

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You now add a countdown widget to your private home display screen/app pages

In the event you take pleasure in customizing your telephone display screen with varied widgets, you may 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, comparable to Calendar, Clock, Climate, and extra, permitting you to regulate their measurement to your choice. When you place the widget, you possibly can drag its corners to resize it.

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

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

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4

Now Bar

You view dwell actions in your lock display screen

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 screen that shows all of the dwell actions taking place in your telephone. For instance, should you’re taking part in a music

on Spotify
, it will likely be displayed within the Now Bar, permitting you to pause playback, navigate backward, or ahead in your playlist, all with no need to unlock your telephone or open the app.

What I like most concerning the Now Bar is its placement. It is positioned proper on the backside of the lock display screen, making it tremendous simple to entry, particularly whenever you’re utilizing your telephone with one hand. In the event you faucet on any of the dwell actions, you possibly can develop them to see extra choices out there. It additionally helps Google Sports activities, so should you observe any sports activities groups on Google, the scores of their video games shall be displayed within the Now Bar. In the event you’re watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper now (go Leafs), this can be a should. Among the apps that assist the Now Bar are Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Maps, Clock, Voice Recorder, Samsung Notes, Stay 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 strategy to the notification heart and fast settings menu, splitting them into two distinct menus. Beforehand, whenever you swiped down from the highest of the display screen, you would be greeted with fast settings choices and notifications. Now, with One UI 7, whenever you swipe down from the top-left or center of the display screen, you solely see notifications. Nonetheless, whenever you swipe down from the top-right, you entry the fast settings menu, permitting you to regulate your Wi-Fi settings, activate Airplane mode, activate the flashlight, and extra.

I recognize this variation, as I discover myself hardly ever utilizing the choices within the fast settings menu except I am touring or altering my display screen brightness. Having one display screen fully 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 further modifications to the fast settings menu, permitting you so as to add extra settings and rearrange the panels on the display screen.

In the event you choose the outdated fashion, the place fast settings and notifications are mixed into one display screen, you possibly can change it again by opening the Fast Settings menu, tapping the pencil icon, deciding on Panel Settings, and selecting the Collectively choice moderately than Separate.

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2

Lock display screen customization

You possibly can regulate the Clock widget extra freely now

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

My favourite new lock display screen addition with One UI 7 is the flexibility to maneuver the clock face round much more freely. This characteristic is out there 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 screen background a lot better. Samsung has additionally added a brand new thickness choice that allows 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 screen I discussed earlier, you can too add it to the lock display screen for any occasions you are excited for.

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1

House display screen 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 carried out with app icons. In the event you go to the Settings app and choose House display screen, now you can change the scale of all of your app icons. You possibly can select between small, medium, and huge icons, with the default setting set to medium.

Two different new settings have been added to additional customise the house display screen: the flexibility to show off app labels and widget labels. Which means should you not wish to see the names of apps underneath their icons, you possibly can disable them. The result’s a super-clean, minimalistic search for all of your apps on the house display screen and totally different app pages.

Moreover, now you can enlarge the scale of app folders, enabling you to entry apps inside them with no need 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 screen to the underside for higher usability. Additional, it is now attainable to view apps within the App Drawer vertically as an alternative of horizontally by adjusting the type choice to Alphabetical.

There are a few different honorable mentions I wish 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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