Samsung is one of the most famous smartphone manufacturing companies in the world, as the company offers many of the best smartphones in various price ranges, including budget phones, mid-range phones, and flagship phones known as the Galaxy S series. Like all other smartphone companies that use the Android operating system, Samsung does not use stock Android on its phones, but it customizes many aspects of the Android interface to provide its own user interface known as One UI. What is this interface, how did Samsung develop it over time, and what are its key features? All of this and more will be explained in this article.
Overview of One UI Interface
Samsung announced the One UI interface in 2018 at the annual developers’ conference, and shortly after that, a beta version of the interface was released for some Samsung phones. The first series of phones to be released with the One UI interface was the Galaxy S10 series, which was released in March 2019. In the following years, Samsung released new versions of the One UI interface every year, with the latest being One UI 4.1 released on the Galaxy S22 phones.
The One UI interface is distinctive in many aspects, as it includes many very useful and fantastic features for users, including features and properties that are not available in the stock Android system. It allows users to customize the interface to a large extent, giving them the freedom to use the phone more freely. However, the downside is that the interface includes many features, pre-installed apps, and settings that may be confusing or unhelpful to users at times.
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Different Versions of One UI
The One UI interface started in 2018 with the release of One UI 1.0, and in 2019, the company made significant improvements to the interface with the second version, One UI 2.0, addressing many of the bugs and missing features in the first version. Subsequent versions of the interface were released every year, with version 3.0 in 2020, and the latest version of the interface so far is One UI 4.1 released in 2022.
As for the latest version of the interface currently, One UI 4.1, it was developed based on the Android 12 system, which was released in the Galaxy S22 series announced by Samsung earlier this year. Many other Samsung phones have received this interface, and there are still many phones receiving the latest version of the interface so far.
It is certain that Samsung is preparing to launch a new version of the interface in the future, One UI 5.0, but before that, it is expected that the company will release another version of the fourth version during the current year to provide more features and improvements.
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How to Identify the One UI Version on Your Phone?
The user interface version follows the operating system version on the phone, so when updating the operating system, you will receive the new One UI update immediately. If you don’t know what version of the operating system or interface you have, you can easily find out by accessing the settings app on your phone, then clicking on “About Phone” and searching for “Software Information.” Click on this option, and you will see the One UI version and the Android operating system version. But what if you have an old version of the interface?
Fortunately, there is an opportunity to update the interface and operating system on your phone if the phone is eligible for the latest operating system version. You can easily update the phone through the settings app, where you will find the “Software Update” option. Click on it, then choose “Download and Install,” and the phone will automatically search for new versions, downloading and installing them immediately if available.
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Features of One UI Interface on Samsung Phones
The One UI user interface available on Samsung phones has many features and capabilities that attract many users, with one of the most important features being the ability to customize the interface to a large extent. Samsung provides a theme store where you can get many free and paid themes for your phone, as well as customize fonts, icons, and other elements easily. You can even get a user interface that resembles the iOS interface through some apps available on the Play Store.
In addition, the One UI interface offers many other features, some of which are only available on flagship smartphones, such as the Dex mode that allows you to use the phone more efficiently by connecting it to a computer to increase productivity. There are other features available on many mid-range Samsung phones, such as the custom power button feature, which allows you to quickly activate specific functions in the phone, such as turning on the camera or taking a screenshot with the volume buttons. There are also some apps in the Play Store that allow you to customize the power button and volume buttons, allowing you to, for example, open a specific app when you double-click the volume up button.
Furthermore, there are many other features you can find on Samsung phones thanks to the distinctive One UI interface, including pre-installed apps on the phone that are very useful, such as the Galaxy Store full of very useful apps and items, including the Good Lock app that allows you to customize your phone excellently. Samsung phones also include other very useful tools such as the screen recording tool and the game booster tool to enhance the phone’s performance and prevent notifications during gaming, among many other very useful tools.
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