Ever since the first Galaxy S phone, Samsung's been known for heavily customizing Android. When you buy a Samsung device, its software looks distinctly different from what you'd find on a Pixel, OnePlus, Nokia, etc.
Samsung's evolved its custom software a lot over the years, with the biggest change happening in November 2018 with the announcement of One UI. One UI is how Samsung now markets its Android interface, and since that initial debut, One UI has matured into something quite powerful.
Ready to learn all about One UI and see just what it has to offer? Here's everything you need to know!
The best
Samsung Galaxy S20
Great software meets excellent hardware
The Galaxy S20 is one of the best phones Samsung has ever made. Right off the bat, it impresses with a gorgeous AMOLED display and buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh rate. It also has excellent rear cameras, fast performance, and expandable storage. Pair that with One UI 2 which is available right out of the box, and you're in for a real treat.
What exactly is One UI?
Source: Samsung
One UI is the name of Samsung's latest Android interface and serves as the successor to The Samsung Experience that previously replaced TouchWiz.
The main goal with One UI is to help users "focus on the task at hand." To achieve this, One UI removes a lot of clutter from the Samsung Experience and makes things much cleaner. For example, the settings page is simplified and regroups certain settings together so that they're easier to get to. The phone, notes, email, and other Samsung apps also have a refreshed design to only show essential information.
Source: Android Central
Samsung also markets One UI as being more natural, saying that it's "restructured the way we interact with our devices." Buttons that are traditionally towards the top of the screen have been moved closer to the bottom, and in many of Samsung's apps (such as Messages and Clock), the top area is reserved exclusively for viewing content you don't have to interact with.
Third, One UI aims to "be visibly comfortable." Colors have been tweaked to provide better clarity, and based on the color of the phone you have, elements of the UI will be tweaked to match it.
One UI was introduced with Android 9 Pie, but it has since been updated to One UI 2 based on Android 10. The core ideas and fundamentals remain the same, and you can find our reviews of both versions below 👇.
- Samsung One UI 2 review: The best (and worst) Android 10 features
- Samsung One UI (Android 9 Pie) review: Samsung's best software yet
Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
One UI is a pretty drastic change compared to past versions of Samsung's software, so whether you're buying a Galaxy S20 or updating your older Galaxy device, there are a lot of new goodies for you to check out.
Things might be a little overwhelming at first, but they don't have to be. If you need some help navigating One UI and understanding how to use its best features, make sure to check out the excellent guide below that Ara Wagoner put together 👇
Best Tips and Tricks for Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI
What Android version is it based on?
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
One UI is based on two different Android versions — Android 9 Pie and Android 10.
If you have a Samsung phone running Android 9, you have One UI. If you have a Samsung phone running Android 10, you have One UI 2.
These two versions have all of the big and notable One UI elements, with the main differences being the new Android 10 features — such as revamped permissions, a new gesture navigation system, etc.
What phones are running One UI?
Source: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central
If you have a modern Samsung phone, chances are it has some version of One UI. Here's the current lineup of Samsung's most recent flagships and which variant of One UI they currently have:
- Galaxy S20 series (One UI 2.1)
- Galaxy S10 series (One UI 2.1)
- Galaxy S9 series (One UI 2.0)
- Galaxy S8 series (One UI 1.0)
- Galaxy Note 10 series (One UI 2.1)
- Galaxy Note 9 (One UI 2)
- Galaxy Note 8 (One UI 1.0)
Starting with the Galaxy S10 series and going forward for the foreseeable future, One UI has been installed on all Samsung smartphones right out of the box. Now, Samsung is working on updating as many devices as it can to One UI 2.
Here's when your Samsung phone will get the One UI 2.0 (Android 10) update
The best
Samsung Galaxy S20
Great software meets excellent hardware
The Galaxy S20 is one of the best phones Samsung has ever made. Right off the bat, it impresses with a gorgeous AMOLED display and buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh rate. It also has excellent rear cameras, fast performance, and expandable storage. Pair that with One UI 2 which is available right out of the box, and you're in for a real treat.
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