Samsung One UI 7 reportedly introduces the NowBar live activities feature. It brings interactive pill-shaped live activities on the lock screen. Now, the design elements of Samsung One UI 7 NowBar have been revealed in a leak.

iOS 18 features Live Activities through Dynamic Island. Samsung seemingly copied the functionality in the One UI 7. When enabled, Galaxy users will get important information at a glance right on the lock screen.

X users TechKhaled_ leaked alleged One UI 7 NowBar screenshots. The images showcase the appearance of Samsung’s live activities feature. The array of eligible apps and services includes Samsung Clock’s Timer and Voice Recorder.

NowBar renders a pill between the left and right lock screen shortcuts. The UI elements feature a blurred background to increase overlay visibility. The pill will also display an app icon, key info via text, and real-time key information.

Apps that require displaying frequent notifications usually opt for live activities. You can take Android’s phone call timer pill as a general example. Samsung is up-leveling the game with the introduction of the visually rich NowBar.

Apart from Clock and Recorder, many stock and third-party apps may be supported. It’s rumored that the NowBar can be disabled through settings. This way, you will be able to restrict the visual appearance of your Galaxy lock screen.

Samsung could release the One UI 7 Beta tomorrow. The company is set to hold the SDC24 Korea on November 21, 2024. It’s expected that the One UI Beta Program may be announced for the Galaxy S24 series for a handful of countries.

Samsung is moving forward with the One UI 7 Beta development and the Galaxy S24 series will be the first to try it. However, it’s not just the new Galaxy S24 models that will get the update soon. Recent reports show that Samsung is also rapidly working on the update for the Galaxy S23 series.

A new test firmware S91xBXXU7DXKM has been spotted on Samsung’s servers, indicating that One UI 7.0 is already being internally tested for the Galaxy S23. While it’s true that One UI 7  has been seen on a Galaxy S23 Ultra since July, it’s only now that test versions for the S23 series are showing up on the servers.

Recently, the standard Galaxy S23 model was spotted running Android 15-based One UI 7 with promising benchmarking scores. The device achieved 2109 in single-core and 5555 in multi-core tests. These scores indicate that One UI 7 will deliver smoother performance, better efficiency, and enhanced multitasking.

Samsung is expected to release the One UI 7 beta program later this year. After that, users of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and S23 Ultra will likely get the chance to test the new software, along with devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Aside from this, Samsung is going to release the stable One UI 7 Beta with the Galaxy S25 series next year. Then, the company will expand the stable update to more devices.

Samsung Galaxy S23 with One UI 7 hits new performance benchmarks

Samsung today announced the official One UI 6 Watch update for eligible models. The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic have started getting the major software. The update will be expanded to even more older Galaxy smartwatch models.

One UI 6 Watch update offers personalized insights to even more users for a holistic and comprehensive understanding of health. It will soon be available to a wider range of Galaxy Watch devices through the latest software update.

Eligible models for One UI 6 Watch update:

1. Galaxy Watch 6
2. Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
3. Galaxy Watch 5
4. Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
5. Galaxy Watch 4
6. Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
7. Galaxy Watch FE

That said the official One UI 6 Watch update will be available for all Samsung smartwatches running Wear OS. The Galaxy Watch 3 was the last Tizen OS-powered Samsung smartwatch model as the Watch 4 series launched with the Wear OS.

Note: The software update will come first to the Galaxy Watch6 series and then become available sequentially to previous generations.

Longest Beta?

Samsung ran a historically long Beta Program for the Galaxy Watch models. The Watch 6 Beta testers have received 8 major Beta updates during the program. The last Beta was released in mid-October, marking the closure of the Beta Program.

In late October, the Korean tech giant formally ended the Beta activity. The Beta channel members have received an incremental firmware update, bumping the Beta build to a Stable one. The public rollout has finally started, with expansion will take time.