Now Bar gaining support for alarms with One UI 8.5
Samsung's Now Bar is a feature similar to Apple's Dynamic Island. The feature was first introduced earlier this year with One UI 7.0, and the South Korean giant added more refinements to it with One UI 8.0 a few months ago. Now, a new leak claims the company is looking to further expand the feature's compatibility with other apps.
Clock's alarm feature is going to gain support for the Now Bar in One UI 8.5.
Right now, the Now Bar can display changes related to the timer and the stopwatch. Samsung is reportedly going to also include the alarms feature with the upcoming update. Basically, when the alarm is about to ring, the information about it will be displayed in the Now Bar.
If you snooze an alarm, this should also be visible in the Now Bar on your Galaxy phone.
Image Credit - SamMobile
Now Bar is a helpful way to get info at a glance
The Now Bar is shown on your lock screen. It takes the form of a pill-shaped floating element that displays live updates in real time. If you tap it, it expands to show you more information relating to the action that was on. The Now Bar is also visible on the always-on display screen and even on the status bar in a small element.
Do you use Samsung’s Now Bar regularly?
Yes, all the time
33.33%
Sometimes
33.33%
Rarely
16.67%
Not at all, I don't like it
16.67%
One UI 8.0 integrated the Now Bar with Android 16's Live Updates. Thanks to this helpful integration, the feature can now show ongoing updates from third-party apps. Those include ride sharing, hailing a cab, and even food delivery apps. In the future, more apps are expected to gain support for it.
The feature works in a similar way to Apple's Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island was first introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022. That element was mainly developed to replace the notch that earlier iPhones sported, but it also seamlessly added this live updates functionality.
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The Dynamic Island has been present on iPhones since, and it's a helpful utility to play or stop music and glance at apps displaying live activities.
The Now Bar is gaining more functionality, and that's a great thing
Although Samsung's phones don't necessarily need a Now Bar to replace a notch that didn't really exist, it's still a pretty useful feature. It's a nice way to interact with your phone quickly without having to enter apps and navigate through them. I'm a fan of the feature.
There's also huge potential for this feature now that it can support more apps and that it's integrated with Google's Live Activities in Android.
One UI 8.5 is expected to debut on the Galaxy S26 series. Samsung's upcoming flagship phones are said to launch early next year. Apart from One UI 8.5, the phones are also going to bring a refined design with a new camera island look, potentially real Qi2 wireless charging capabilities, and a new chip (likely a Snapdragon-Exynos split by regions).
One UI 8.5 is going to bring serious AI updates. Reportedly, Bixby, Samsung's virtual assistant, is getting a huge overhaul with the update. The assistant is said to be gaining the ability to understand natural speech, be more intelligent in locating settings, access conversation history, and provide help across apps.
Other rumored tweaks that are coming with One UI 8.5 include updates to Photo Assist, improved power-saving tools, and more.
Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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