Samsung has been very slowly rolling out its Android 9 update to a very small selection of its phones, and with it, the company is introducing a fairly radical redesign of the user interface it slaps on top of Android. It’s called One UI, and it seems like people are… Actually really positive about it?
Since I – and many others with me – have treated Samsung’s UIs and skins as a punching bag for almost a decade now, it seems only fair to also highlight when they seem to be doing something right. First, Dieter Bohn at The Verge:
I’ve been testing One UI on a Galaxy S9 for the past week or so and thus far I really like it. In some ways, I like it better than what Google itself is shipping on the Pixel 3. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t yet trust Samsung to deliver major software updates quickly, I would be shouting about One UI from the rooftops. As it is, I just want to point out that it’s time for us to stop instinctively turning our noses up at Samsung’s version of Android.
There are still some annoying parts of One UI, but they don’t ruin what is otherwise a full-featured, coherent, and (dare I say) thoughtful version of Android. This is not the conventional wisdom about Samsung software.
Second, Abhay Venkatesh at NeoWin:
Samsung’s One UI is a huge step in the right direction. The fresh, fluid UI makes it a joy to use, and the addition of smart UI elements, dark mode, and other nifty improvements make for a great experience. The navigation system combines the best of either world and in true Samsung fashion, provides users with an abundance of options. The company’s efforts to continually improve its software and strike a balance between excess customization and usability is evident. However, a lot of the remnants remain from the years that have passed, and it will be interesting to see how Samsung moves the design language forward.
I’m glad to see Samsung improve its software, since that will benefit a lot of people all over the world, and it’s always refreshing to have your preconceived notions challenged.
I recently bought a Sony Xperia XZ2, which has a pretty stock version of Android 9.
I have never understood the fascination with stock Android, it feels clunky. Like AmigaOS with nothing else installed. (making that comparison because I recently upgraded my Amiga to 3.1.4!). Samsung has in the past made some mistakes in implementing new features without them being very optimized, hence the slow down and hatred for Touchwiz, but after many iterations, it’s been spectacular. When I take a look at my Note 8 (still on Android 8) it’s still much more feature rich and runs great.
It’s also like comparing KDE 5 to early versions of KDE 4 or even 3. Stock Android just seems so rough and like you need to mod it to get to the Samsung level.
But that is right, the time between the major version release updates is pretty sad for Samsung. If only they could separate OneUI from Android so that it’s basically an APK you slap on top of it…
I will re-iterate for the 100th time that most people don’t care about Android upgrades. Unlike Desktop Linux, where an old OS version leads to stale repos (and by extension inability to get new apps such as the latest version of VLC), Android gives you access to the latest apps even if you have an older Android version installed. The last time I saw a non-technical person in my social circle care about upgrades was when Pokemon Go required Android 5.0 and up, but even 5.0 was a fairly old version by then. He had a weird variant of the Galaxy S4 that was stuck on Android 4.4
People also don’t care about security updates. Although they should. But good luck explaining to them why they should.
I will re-iterate for the millionth time that almost no one reading this site cares that most people don’t care about Android upgrades. How is your reply relevant to anything the OP said? There are people that care which is why OSnews and Android blogs exist to discuss stuff like this and give our opinions about it.
The clock seems to be on the left cluttering the notifications so I’d say it is not a better UI than Android stock.
I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this… 🙁
Stock Android 9 (Pie) puts the clock on the left. There appears to be no way to move it back to the right.
I think it was done to make more room for a “notch” in the screen. 😛
Don’t get me started about the time on the left… You are right that the time was moved to the left on stock Android. We really need up-votes and down-votes back for comments. Samsung could have keep the time on the right for their Android distribution but they have glory holes in the display to the right on their new flagship phones.
We nerds may treat OEM skins on Android as superfluous, but apparently they do offer tangible benefits to users. And allow OEMs like Samsung to differentiate. This is why I say they are not going away.
Now let’s see how this skin looks next to Google apps.