Over the past few years, I’ve been a big fan of Samsung’s One UI design language on Galaxy phones. This changed with the update to version 8.5. I am not alone. Many people are replacing their home screens with custom launchers and replacing Samsung apps with alternatives. What did Samsung do so wrong?
A UI 8.5 is not a big failure
There are just too many inconsistencies
I like the overall look of Android, but I’ve actually preferred Samsung’s mods in recent years. Everything from the selection of widgets to the snappy status icons and the design of the stock apps felt more minimalistic, consistent and practical on Samsung devices than on Google. But while I still don’t like the design decisions Google makes for its first-party apps, it’s hard to beat Material 3 Expressive as a whole. It’s a beautiful design language.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s latest round of software updates feels like a serious endeavor to fix what isn’t broken. The side panels that used to go all the way to the edge of the screen now have an awkward gap. The folder icons in Samsung My Files have really improved the use of gradients. The Contacts app now features giant contact cards, a design element not seen in any other app. The clocks app has a kind of sparkle to it.
In my opinion, the best looking Samsung apps are now the ones left alone. Samsung Music hasn’t gotten much attention in ages, and it seems all the better for it. Samsung’s update is no exception A failure at the level of Apple’s liquid glassbut that doesn’t feel like an improvement either. Things are starting to look so conflicted that it reminds me of the company that gave TouchWiz.
AI aggression continues
It’s all about Gemini, Galaxy AI and Bixby
We’ve seen for several years now that most major smartphone companies have been branding their phones as AI phones, but only a few have fully committed to it. Many have gone so far as to add a dedicated physical button that activates an AI chatbot and other gimmicky features. However, with each new version of One UI, Samsung has leaned more towards making sure its AI features are front and center.
Whether you open the app drawer, file manager, or calendar app, you can expect a floating search bar at the bottom. This little tweak is the biggest UI change of the entire release. Samsung’s big bet is that search is one of the more useful ways to use the AI built into your phone, and it wants to reveal that feature. In the process, Samsung added confusion and made it confusing as to where to look for the search option in each app. The search bar is also sometimes smaller and harder to reach than it was before the update.
When it comes to Bixby, Samsung’s new Perplexity-based version is a mixed bag. Not only is it more talkative, it’s also less reliable. Bixby used to be a reliable and predictable way to control not just my Samsung phone, but any Smart home devices connected via Samsung SmartThings. Now, as with all LLM-based tools, it’s impossible to predict exactly what it will do. This is frustrating for someone who is alone Recently discovered how useful Bixby can be. Now, this relationship with Bixby was very short-lived.
A UI 8.5 doesn’t fix what needs to be fixed
There are still a lot of things that need attention about the Samsung software
I recently traded in a Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 for a Moto Razr Fold. I have already written about it How Motorola’s hardware is better than Samsung’s when it comes to the camera, battery life and charging speed – but what convinced me the most to go for the Razr Fold was actually the software.
In my opinion, Motorola has the right approach to Android. Take stock Android and add some attractive features that fit perfectly with Android’s existing design language. As a foldable lover, the main feature that won me over is Motorola’s approach to multitasking. there is Multiple ways to multitask on the Samsung Galaxy Z Foldbut the experience of using more than two apps at the same time is awkward. I’ve been watching other folders do it better for years.
Motorola now offers the option of opening three apps side by side and swiping between them. Alternatively, I can rotate between up to three apps in one carousel. Like one again using my phone as my computerthis quality of life improvement makes the job much easier to do.
Samsung once led the way with this kind of work. The Z Fold’s versatile features were impressive at first, and the company has stuck with DeX for almost a decade, but now other folding devices have better workflows and DeX is no longer the only option for the Android desktop. i’m glad Samsung fixed One UI’s confusing speed settingsbut this is not enough. Instead of catching up, Samsung seems to be simply lagging behind.
Customers will only take so much
My Motorola phone comes with AI features, but they’re hidden behind a physical button that I never press. As an end user, this is great. The functionality is there when I want it, but it’s also easy to ignore.
From a corporate perspective, this is bad design. They want me to use AI and that button clearly doesn’t work. what are you doing What you do is flash Galaxy One UI 8.5. You continue to put AI front and center, ignoring the signals that at some point your customer might just leave — and if they can’t leave, they’ll replace your app with someone else’s. Never looked at Niagara Launcher more like a better fix for your bloated Samsung device more than now.
