Samsung's interface is due for another overhaul pretty soon — probably when the new Galaxy S25 series gets announced in January. And the beta has already started rolling out, with the first version hitting enthusiasts' phones on the 5th of December.
And, for what it is, it's a pretty fresh visual upgrade. With some new icons, cleaner animations, some more customization options, a redesigned Quick Toggles UI that looks a lot like an iPhone Control Center, a redesigned battery icon that looks like an iPhone's battery icon, a Live Activities widget that looks a lot like an iPhone's Dynamic Island... Wait, hold on a second!
Yup, it seems like a lot of the visual changes and some features have a bit of an iOS tinge to them. And you know what — that's fine. Samsung still seems to be pulling them off "the Samsung way", and both iOS and Android have been copying each other's homework for years now. But, just for fun, let's take a look at how One UI 7 will "iPhone-ify" the Galaxies next year!
Live Activities and Now Bar
The new One UI 7 will have Live Notifications, meaning they will be dynamic mini-widgets in the form of a notification, showing you currently ongoing tasks. Like timers, voice recording, music playback, charging progress, and so on. Much like how Apple's Dynamic Island that surrounds the camera cutout is a live widget that shows you currently active tasks.
Now, Samsung's take is a bit different. On the lockscreen, the Now Bar is at the bottom, easy to tap and swipe with a thumb if you just pick up the phone with one hand. When you unlock it, you will see the Live Notifications button all the way on the top left — you tap it and you get the Now Bar expand over the top of the screen.
It's a slightly different take with more thought put into ergonomics. But it very strongly evokes the Dynamic Island feels.
Quick Settings panel
Just change something up? Gotcha, we are going to keep our sliders horizontal (Image credit - PhoneArena)
The Quick Settings panel has now been redesigned quite heavily. It no longer looks like an extra-expanded notifications shade, it now has toggle groupings and widgets that you can resize and rearrange, quite like how you can do in iOS 18.
Again, Samsung put a spin on it by allowing you to expand collective toggle folders and make them as big as you want them to be.
You can also call the Quick Settings up instantly by swiping from the top-right of the screen (instead of a double swipe down), much like iOS has been doing for some years now. One UI 6 used to be able to do that, too, but it's not a default setting — it's called Quick Settings instant access and can be found while editing your Quick toggles' arrangement.
In any case, we can't say there's a clear winner here. Both Samsung and Apple's Quick Settings / Control Center are getting a bit too elaborate and complicated for a feature that's supposed to give you quick access to simple things. We presume most users will leave these at default, or slightly tweak them and not tinker with them too much.
Lockscreen clock and widgets
Quick - which phone is which? (Image credit - PhoneArena)
The new One UI 7 lockscreen definitely has strong iOS vibes. There are large clock styles that resemble what we started seeing in iOS 17. Add to that the very iOS-ish widgets, which were added with One UI 6 last time around, show us a screenshot of One UI 7's lockscreen, and we'd have to do a double-take to figure out if it's an iPhone or a Galaxy.
No complaints here, though. The new style is very clean, modern, informative, and customizable. It was one of the good things that Apple did for iOS' quality of life featureset, and we are happy to get to enjoy it on Galaxies as well.
Speaking of the lock screen -
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Lockscreen media player
Pretty callback to the mp3 players of the past (Image credit - PhoneArena)
While playing music with the phone locked, your entire wallpaper switches to show you the album artwork, with the media playback controls near the bottom of the screen for easy access. Am I describing One UI 7 or iOS 18 here? Ha! It's both!
Before this, One UI only showed you a rectangular notification for music playback, with cropped artwork. The new style is definitely more captivating, but also definitely borrowed from how iPhones have been doing it for a while.
And since we are still on the lockscreen -
The Always-on display has gotten a glow-up
Dimly lit - turn your lockscreen into a speakeasy (Image credit - PhoneArena)
Apple first introduced its take on Always-on displays with the iPhone 14 Pro. It wasn't just a black screen with a clock on it — Apple decided to leave your entire wallpaper visible and just dim it. With a refresh rate of 1 Hz, this wasn't too taxing on the battery, but a lot of users hated it. It just never looks like your phone is truly "off" (in the sense of "asleep").
In fact, there were enough negative comments and reviews that Apple actually now gives you the choice to have a "boring" old all-black Always-on mode, with just a clock and notifications on it.
Which is why it's a bit of a surprise that Samsung decided to copy exactly that — with One UI 7's Always-on Display, you can now have your entire wallpaper remain visible, just like the ill-received lockscreen on iOS 16.
Battery icon
Neat, pretty, basically the same (Image credit - PhoneArena)
Another visual upgrade that has been a long time coming. Thus far, Samsung used to show you battery status with a single vertical battery icon in the top right. If you enable battery percentages to be visible, they would sit next to the battery icon, taking more space in your notifications bar. Definitely an outdated look for 2024, that's for sure!
In One UI 7, the battery icon turns sideways, and percentage numbers will be shown inside. The shape of the icon and the way it lights up green while charging definitely looks very iOS-ish. But we are just happy it got modernized!
Recent Apps carousel
Lastly, the Recent Apps carousel got a visual update. It still functions much like before — you get a "Close All" button and a row of suggested apps based on your usage at the very button. The carousel itself has just been slightly visually tweaked. Instead of swiping through different windows of your recently-used apps, you will now sift through what looks a stacked deck of apps. This one looks very iOS.
What do you think?
Here's a small bonus round. Those of you that have used iPhones since the Great iPhone X Redesign may know that there was no easy way to turn the iPhone off. The "power button" wasn't exactly that — since the Home button was now gone, the side key became the Apple Pay / Siri button, so holding it down didn't call up the power menu. The only way to turn your iPhone off was either to go to Settings -> General -> Turn off, or do a combination that goes Volume Up -> Volume Down -> Hold power (very few people know that one!).
Samsung tackled a similar problem, but gave you the ability to turn off the phone with a "power off" button, easily accessible in the notifications shade. Why are we going on this tirade? Because with iOS 18, Apple has actually copied that tiny little feature and finally given us an easy way to turn an iPhone off. Crazy, right?
Blink and you'll miss it — tiny "power off" button is now on the iPhone (Image credit - PhoneArena)
Back to One UI 7, though. Has Samsung went over the top here, or are these welcome refreshments? We do believe that Galaxies are striving to make onboarding easier to anyone that chooses to switch from an iPhone for the first time. That aside, the visual upgrades do look lovely and modern. Most places where Samsung got an idea from Apple's interface — it developed further and added an extra spin to it.
On the other hand, are we in danger of waking up one day in a world where every smartphone looks, operates, and feels the same? Some thoughts to shudder to!
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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.
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