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One UI 8.5 makes your Galaxy Now Bar worth checking again

Missed call alerts finally show up, so the lock screen strip feels more useful day to day.

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The Now Bar in One UI 7 on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Samsung is giving the One UI 8.5 Now Bar a feature it should’ve had from the start, a missed call alert right on the lock screen.

A post from Tarun Vats shows a missed call card appearing inside the Now Bar, so you can spot what you missed without digging into the Phone app first.

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It’s a small change, but it fixes a daily annoyance for anyone who keeps their phone on silent, in a bag, or face down on a desk.

One UI 8.5 👀

Now Bar now shows missed calls as well. pic.twitter.com/FR5Jwu0Do1

— Tarun Vats (@tarunvats33) January 27, 2026

Missed calls finally land in the Now Bar

The screenshot shows the missed call as a dedicated card with a phone icon and a clear status line that you didn’t answer.

Calls are still one of the most time sensitive alerts on any phone. If you miss one, you usually want to know fast, and you want that info to be obvious when you glance at your screen.

It also hints that Samsung wants the Now Bar to be more than a passive widget strip. A missed call card is the kind of alert that earns its space.

Why this matters for daily use

For a lot of people, the lock screen is the home base. You check it between meetings, on commutes, or during workouts, then move on.

Putting missed calls in the lock screen bar cuts down on busywork. You don’t have to unlock just to confirm what happened, and you’re less likely to lose a call under a pile of other notifications.

It’s also a good signal for what Samsung considers “priority” content. If the Now Bar can handle missed calls cleanly, it’s easier to imagine it taking on other urgent items that deserve first-class visibility.

What to watch next

What’s still unclear is the rollout. The post ties the change to a One UI 8.5 build, but it doesn’t spell out which Galaxy models get it first, which regions are included, or whether it’s limited to a test channel.

Until Samsung confirms those details, treat this as an early look rather than a feature you can expect on every phone today. Keep it on your radar.

If you’re on One UI test software, check the Now Bar after updates. The moment missed calls reliably show there, the feature stops feeling optional.

Paulo Vargas
Paulo Vargas is an English major turned reporter turned technical writer, with a career that has always circled back to…
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