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

The

release of One UI 7
has been something however clean for Samsung. After starting to roll out the replace on April 10 within the US, the tech large paused it just a few brief days later to deal with a

serious bug.

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

Whereas the look ahead 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 number 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 screen/app pages

When you take pleasure in customizing your cellphone 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 dimension choices for its default apps, comparable to Calendar, Clock, Climate, and extra, permitting you to regulate their dimension to your choice. When you place the widget, you’ll be able to 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’ll be able to add a little bit of aptitude if you want. Merely faucet the widget, choose settings, and you will see all of the completely different form choices accessible.

My favourite new widget choice 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, comparable to birthdays, holidays, and particular occasions. For 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 reside actions in your lock display screen

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 screen that shows all of the reside actions occurring in your cellphone. For instance, when you’re taking part in 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 with no need to unlock your cellphone 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 screen, making it tremendous simple to entry, particularly whenever you’re utilizing your cellphone with one hand. When you faucet on any of the reside actions, you’ll be able to develop them to see extra choices accessible. It additionally helps Google Sports activities, so when you comply with any sports activities groups on Google, the scores of their video games can be displayed within the Now Bar. When you’re watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper now (go Leafs), it is a should. A few of the apps that help the Now Bar are Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Maps, Clock, Voice Recorder, Samsung Notes, Dwell 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 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 short settings menu, permitting you to regulate your Wi-Fi settings, activate Airplane mode, activate the flashlight, and extra.

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

When you choose the previous model, the place fast settings and notifications are mixed into one display screen, you’ll be able to change it again by opening the Fast Settings menu, tapping the pencil icon, deciding on Panel Settings, and selecting the Collectively choice somewhat than Separate.

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2

Lock display screen customization

You may regulate the Clock widget extra freely now

The lock display screen can 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 cellphone’s gallery on it. So in order for you an image of your annoying however lovely cat in your lock display screen always, now you can try this. You may even add PNGs to the lock display screen’s gallery widget, so the photographs can 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 power 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 cellphone’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 model choices. When you keep in mind that countdown widget for the house display screen I discussed earlier, it’s also possible to 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 recent appearances that make them stand out and look extra fashionable total. However that is not all Samsung has executed with app icons. When you go to the Settings app and choose House display screen, now you can change the scale of all of your app icons. You may 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 power to show off app labels and widget labels. Which means that when you not need to see the names of apps underneath their icons, you’ll be able to disable them. The result’s a super-clean, minimalistic search for all of your apps on the house display screen and completely 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 potential to view apps within the App Drawer vertically as a substitute of horizontally by adjusting the type 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 digicam app and new battery safety modes.

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