Samsung’s Now Bar is already getting more useful

By Patrick Hearn Published January 30, 2025

The Now Bar on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra's lock screen. — Now Bar Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Samsung’s Now Bar is a particularly useful feature that lets you see notifications, your currently playing music, and much more right from your lock screen — and now it’s getting Google Maps integration ahead of the One UI 7 rollout. This feature is already available for the Galaxy S25 series but hasn’t yet come to the Galaxy S24 or earlier generations.

Google Maps integration in One UI 7 is live from Google Maps v25.04.01.717254420 as of this moment, per tipster Tarun Vats. You can now see upcoming turns and other directions just by glancing at the lock screen, making it much easier to maneuver around unfamiliar locales.

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You can think of the Now Bar like Apple’s Dynamic Island feature. It serves essentially the same purpose, but it lives at the bottom of the lock screen instead of at the top. Google said the feature will be present in One UI 7 from release, and that it would come shortly after the Galaxy S25 launch. However, Samsung has yet to provide a concrete date to look for.

Google Maps v25.04.01.717254420 is rolling out live navigation in the Now Bar and Live Activities for devices on One UI 7. Works on S24 too!

Repost pic.twitter.com/6XKVABfoOH

— Tarun Vats (@tarunvats33) January 30, 2025

One UI 7 is the next iteration of Samsung’s operating system and comes packed with new animations and features. It also improves on the operating system in numerous smaller ways that are more subtle.

After facing multiple delays and spending quite a long time in beta, the update might be just over the horizon. Though Samsung hasn’t given a specific release day, the company did provide a press release that promised One UI 7 would be available on all compatible devices by the end of Q1 2025.

March 31 isn’t as far away as it might seem. If you’re still using an older Galaxy S device, you just need to be patient a little while longer.

Former Technology Writer

Patrick has written about tech for more than 15 years and isn't slowing down anytime soon. With previous clients ranging from…

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