Samsung is taking its time longer than usual with a new version of One UI. Samsung has good reason for that because it really wants to come up with something new. That news appears to be the Now Bar. It should rival the Dynamic Island we saw on recent iPhones.
Just a refresher. Apple announced the Dynamic Island with the iPhone 15. This integrated the shape of the Face ID components into the software. Thanks to animations, the user is informed of notifications, timers and additional information.
.Samsung has thought long and hard about an answer and that answer is the Now Bar. You'll find it unlike the Dynamic Island not at the top, but at the bottom of the screen. The advantage of this is that it is closer to your hand and therefore easier to operate. Completely in style with One UI. The Now Bar is built almost entirely on AI; artificial intelligence.
The Now Bar provides information such as the weather forecast, makes suggestions based on your calendar, and can compile a music list based on your journey. The Now Bar is a starting point for frequently used features on your phone and it therefore lives on the lock screen.
Both native apps and others' apps
In addition to the screenshot shared by Samsung, we have also seen examples where Now Bar is used for the clock, voice recorder, Samsung Health, translate, Maps, Music and Notes. Again, Now Bar appears as a sort of widget at the bottom of the lockscreen.
Expect to see One UI 7 with the Now Bar starting in early 2025. The first phones to be equipped with it will be the Galaxy S25 series. After that, older Galaxy phones will get One UI 7 as an update, depending on how old your mobile is.
