One UI 7 introduced us to the Now Bar on Galaxy phones. The feature showed promise but seemingly fell short of providing an at-a-glance information and action panel for a majority of phone features. In One UI 8, it looks like the Now Bar might actually be capable of more.
In the public release of One UI 7, the Now Bar serves a couple of purposes. It’s a charging indicator, a vessel for sports scores, and a way to interact with your Morning Brief. It does more, of course, but the list of features is limited.
In truth, Samsung fell short of what users expected in One UI 7 with the Now Bar. It was expected to be a suggestion mecca that transformed your daily habits into action items, like suggesting that you play your travel playlist since you’re traveling, or offering folders of apps for a specific activity you’re doing. If that doesn’t sound like the Now Bar you know in One UI 7, you’re correct; it isn’t
According to a post on Twitter/X by @Topraks9plus, One UI 8 might do a little bit to expand what the Now Bar can do, though it’s nothing as complex as we were hoping. The attached images show off a new Do Not Disturb button in the Now Bar, along with the ability to check in on active calls. The call pill looks to display the call time and likely the recipient. It’s unclear if the DND pill is a permanent button that can activate/disable the function from the Now Bar.
There isn’t much more information available beyond the images, though it does mean One UI 8 may incorporate more into the highly anticipated feature. Still, users would likely want to see more from Samsung, like the inclusion of third-party apps and better AI suggestions. That may happen in One UI 7, and the leaked images of One UI 8 and the Now Bar might just consist of foundational changes.
One UI 8 is also subject to change. Consider the fact that these builds are leaked updates and are not available, even in a beta version. As far as availability goes, it’s going to be a while.