Samsung’s One UI 7 Beta has just launched for the Galaxy S24 series, packed with exciting new features. One standout addition is the Now Bar, Samsung’s take on displaying live activities. Similar to iOS 16 and implementations by brands like OnePlus and Nothing, Samsung has finally introduced live activities to its interface. Let’s dive in detail.
What is ‘Now Bar’ in One UI 7?
Now Bar sits between the left and right shortcuts at the bottom of your lock screen. It lets you check essential information without unlocking your phone. You can see real-time activities like currently playing music, stopwatch, voice recording, Interpreter, Samsung workout tracking, and more.
Each notification has interactive buttons. For example, when you’re playing music, your phone would show you the currently playing music in Now Bar along with the play/pause, next, and previous music buttons.
Now Bar also appears like a pill-shaped element on the top of the status bar. When you click it, it expands and appears on top of the screen, just like Apple’s Dynamic Island.
This not only saves time, preventing you from unlocking your phone every time to see something, but also helps with better one-handed usability on the phone.
How to Turn On or Off Now Bar on One UI 7
To turn Now Bar on or off, and customize it in One UI 7:
1. Open Settings on your Samsung Galaxy phone running One UI 7.
2. Go to Lock Screen and AOD and choose Now Bar.
3. Here, you can choose to enable/disable it for Music and Modes and Routines.
4. Tapping Live notifications lets you turn on live activities for apps on your phone.
Also Read:
- How to Customize the App and Widget Style on One UI 7
- One UI 7’s Writing Assist: 5 Ways It Will Help You Read and Write Better
- How to Use the Call Transcript Feature on One UI 7
- One UI 7 Quick Settings Is Inspired but Unique – How It Works
Supported Apps
The live activities feature currently supports the following apps:
- Clock
- Voice Recorder
- Emergency sharing
- Samsung Health
- Interpreter
- Maps
- Samsung Notes
- Bixby
Samsung says it will be adding more apps to it soon. This could mean we may be able to check out an ongoing Uber ride or a Zomato food delivery order directly from the status bar or lock screen.
Now Bar is currently available in One UI 7 Beta for Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra. The feature will arrive on all other Galaxy devices compatible with One UI 7, including last year’s Galaxy S23 series and the upcoming Galaxy S25.
