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 big paused it only some quick days later to handle a

serious bug.

Now, over per 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 collection and the newest Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip fashions. Extra gadgets, such because the S23 collection, will obtain it quickly.

Whereas the anticipate One UI 7 has been lengthy, the options it has been filled with are properly well worth the wait. I have been lucky sufficient to have had the chance to check One UI 7 on the

Galaxy S25+
for just a few months now, and listed below are 5 of my favourite options that made me not miss my iPhone, and that it is 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 house display/app pages

If you happen to 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 desire. 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 implies your widgets now not must 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 dwell actions in your lock display

One of many first new belongings 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 dwell actions taking place in your telephone. For instance, should you’re taking part in a track

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 without having to unlock your telephone or open the app.

What I like most in regards to the Now Bar is its placement. It is positioned proper on the backside of the lock display, making it tremendous straightforward to entry, particularly whenever you’re utilizing your telephone with one hand. If you happen to faucet on any of the dwell actions, you may increase them to see extra choices accessible. It additionally helps Google Sports activities, so should you observe any sports activities groups on Google, the scores of their video games might be displayed within the Now Bar. If you happen to’re watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper now (go Leafs), this can be a should. A number of the apps that help 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 help 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, whenever you swiped down from the highest of the display, 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, you solely see notifications. Nonetheless, whenever 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 recognize this alteration, as I discover myself hardly ever utilizing the choices within the fast settings menu until I am touring or altering my display brightness. Having one display totally devoted to notifications is way more handy, making it really feel extra like iOS 18, which I am accustomed to coming from my iPhone. Samsung has additionally made further adjustments to the short settings menu, permitting you so as to add extra settings and rearrange the panels on the display.

If you happen to want the outdated model, 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, choosing Panel Settings, and selecting the Collectively possibility reasonably than Separate.

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2

Lock display customization

You possibly can regulate the Clock widget extra freely now

The lock display can 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 might 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 accessible 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 significantly better. Samsung has additionally added a brand new thickness possibility that allows you to modify the thickness of the clock’s font, together with new animated clock model choices. If you happen to 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

Dwelling display upgrades

New app icons and sizes

With One UI 7, Samsung has up to date all its default app icons with recent appearances that make them stand out and look extra fashionable general. However that is not all Samsung has accomplished with app icons. If you happen to go to the Settings app and choose Dwelling display, now you can change the scale 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. Which means that should you now not wish to see the names of apps below 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 scale of app folders, enabling you to entry apps inside them without 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 attainable to view apps within the App Drawer vertically as a substitute of horizontally by adjusting the kind 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 digicam app and new battery safety modes.

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