The launch of Samsung’s One UI in 2018 was undeniably a watershed moment for phone user interfaces. While the initial iPhone had shortcomings, it was clear that it had won the hearts and minds of the globe when everyone from OnePlus to Google copied much of its design. We’ve been fans since the beginning, but there’s one area where it’s always been difficult to look at, and that’s animations.
Samsung’s One UI is a mix of openness and closeness. Things are continually speeding, flowing, expanding, and contracting to an extreme degree. In fact, the animation bloat was so awful that Samsung included a feature named “Reduce Animations” at one time, almost as if they realized it was excessive.
It’s difficult to quantify how much that feature lowered everything, but we always advised you to enable it. Then Samsung took it down one day! If you wish to lessen animations, you must first activate developer options and alter the phone’s animation scales. That’s not tough, but we don’t like the fact that Samsung removed our earlier straightforward option.
Anyway, SamMobile believes that Samsung is set to dramatically increase the UI speed in One UI 5.0, which is positive and relevant news. One of the primary issues on the One UI 5 agenda, according to their sources, will be to improve UI navigation speeds and animations so that they are smoother.
We don’t have an official debut date for One UI 5, however Samsung usually releases new One UI updates alongside the latest Android version. For example, we were able to test One UI 4 with Android 12 before it was rolled out to all of Samsung’s finest phones by the end of 2021. If Samsung holds another developer conference in the fall, it could be a nice opportunity to preview the new One UI.
Finally, while we have someone in Samsung’s orbit’s attention, can we get a vertical app drawer already? For us, Samsung, it’s long past time to make the switch.
Google Pixel 9
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
Keep Reading
Android 17 has just arrived on Google Pixel phones, and it’s set to reach Xiaomi devices soon as well. For Xiaomi users, though, this upgrade carries considerably more weight than usual — the upcoming HyperOS 4 skin is reportedly bringing a substantial software and architectural overhaul rather than the typical incremental yearly refresh. Beyond the […]
Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 has arrived for Google Pixel devices, bringing a mix of new features and bug fixes. This release also marks the Platform Stability milestone for the operating system, laying the groundwork for its transition toward a stable release. Alongside the specific bug fixes Google detailed for this build, the update introduces […]
Honor introduced a new term to the industry, “Agentic OS,” on the opening day of MWC26 in Shanghai, outlining several defining characteristics of this operating system concept along with features that will arrive for users through the upcoming MagicOS 11 update. The reveal took place during the MWC 26 first-day event on June 24, where […]
When it comes to sheer feature breadth, Android generally has the upper hand. Split-screen multitasking, desktop PC mode via an external monitor, the ability to swap out the default launcher — these are things iPhones simply can’t do. Customization and openness have always been Android’s calling card. Even so, Apple has quietly built a set […]
Honor is deep in development on MagicOS 11, and fresh details suggest the company is going all-in on a visual overhaul — one that will bring a Liquid Glass-inspired interface to its devices. Following iOS 26 and HarmonyOS 7, Honor appears ready to join the glass UI wave with its own take on the aesthetic. […]
A few hours before Huawei officially unveiled HarmonyOS 7.0 at HDC 2026, the company quietly dropped OpenHarmony 7.0 Beta 1 — a pre-release build that had first surfaced three weeks earlier and has now been formally released as a public testing framework for device makers and developers. OpenHarmony serves as the open-source foundation that device […]
Comments & Discussions
Join the conversation! We use Disqus to handle comments. Click the button below to load the comment section.