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Samsung One UI 2.0 brings easier one-handed use and nonintrusive notifications

Christian de Looper
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At the Samsung Developer Conference, Samsung announced a new version of its Android skin, One UI. The new One UI 2.0 has been available as a beta to a few phones over the past few weeks, and offers a number of small tweaks to the One UI interface that helps make it a little more streamlined and easy to use.

One UI 2 was developed based on three principles: Making it simpler, more natural, and more comfortable. That said, while Samsung was quick to hype up the new Android skin, the changes are all relatively minor. Perhaps the biggest change to One UI is that it’s based on Android 10 — so you’ll get access to many of the new Android 10 features straight from One UI 2.0.

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Still, there are a few interesting updates to the operating system that should make it easier to use. The original One UI was aimed at making it easy to use with one hand, and One UI 2.0 brings that to the next level. For example, home screen app folders no longer take up the entire screen when opened, instead taking up only the bottom two-thirds of the display. Default apps also use the upper portion of the display to show off more information. For example, when you open the Messages app, instead of simply saying the word “Messages,” you’ll also be told how many unread messages you have.

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There are other small changes to make watching and playing content more immersive. Call notifications have been redesigned to be much smaller when playing a game or watching a video in full screen, allowing you to easily continue watching or playing.

Other changes include the fact that app screen icons are now featured in more vivid colors, and the fact that One UI has been optimized to work on more display types, so you’ll get a consistent experience on your watch, tablet, and phone.

After using One UI 2.0 at the Samsung Developer Conference, it’s clear that most of the changes are minor, and there are no major new features to look forward to. That said, all the changes that were there seemed like a natural progression, and some are even pretty helpful.

Perhaps the most interesting announcement is that One UI 2.0 has been optimized to work on more foldable phone types, and Samsung even showed off the interface on a new clamshell-style foldable phone. This all but confirms Samsung is already working on a follow-up to the original Galaxy Fold, and that it may feature a totally different form-factor aimed at being smaller in your pocket.

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