- Samsung is planning to skip One UI 7 Watch for One UI 8 Watch.
- The South Korean giant will bring features like Now Brief and Now Bar to smartwatches.
- Here’s everything you need to know about the update.
Samsung is planning to skip One UI 7 Watch in favor of One UI 8. Perhaps the South Korean giant wants to avoid the One UI 7 rollout fiasco for Galaxy phones. Jokes apart, Samsung wants to synchronize the One UI version for both phones and watches. The One UI 8 Watch update is set to bring AI features like Now Bar and Now Brief to smartwatches. Here’s everything you need to know about One UI 8 for Watch.
One UI 8 Watch To Bring Fresh Design With New Icons
The One UI 8 Watch will introduce a new design with a circular design and flat icons. The app icons are straight out of One UI 7 and look very modern.
While a leak shows squircle icons, another leak says icons will have rounded corners. The white background on the icons should help with contrast, but it does ruin the look to an extent.
Furthermore, a leak by SammyGuru reveals that the OneUI 8 watch will have redesigned tiles. These include pill-shaped tiles for Samsung Health, Calendar, Weather, and more. Available in two different sizes: Fill Size, which takes up the entire watch, and Half Size, will occupies half the size.
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Compared to the half-size tiles, the full-size ones show more info, such as details of the weather outside or the sleep stats for yesterday. The only use case would be that users get the freedom to add two half-size tiles instead of a single full-size one.
The only problem is that these pill-shaped tiles result in black bars at the top and bottom on a circular screen. So while it might look good on the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it doesn’t fit the square display.
Now Bar, Now Brief, And Shortcuts App Coming With One UI 8 Watch
The report by Sammyguru reveals that Samsung Health is gaining a new Antioxidant Index feature. It measures beta Carotene levels and color codes them into three different levels.
This feature is likely to be exclusive to the upcoming Galaxy Watch 8 since there is no clarity on whether existing Watches support it. Maybe Samsung could bring it to older models such as the Galaxy Watch Ultra or the Galaxy Watch 7.
According to a report by Android Authority, Now Bar and Now Brief are coming to Galaxy Watches. Just like on phones, Now Bar will appear on your watch face and other areas of the UI as a pill-shaped bar.
It will show details like Contextual Suggestions, Maps, Media Controls, Now Brief, and Sports scores from Google. Furthermore, users will be able to double pinch to open the Now Bar on their Watches.
While there are no details on how Now Brief will work, it will likely showcase all the things you need to know in a tiles widget or a notification.
Samsung is also adding the Shortcuts app with One UI 8 Watch. With the app, users will be able to add shortcuts to the home screen of the Galaxy Watch.
These shortcuts will be available in two sizes: 2×1 and 2×2, letting you add up to two and four shortcuts, respectively. It will let you access any apps or features you want faster.
Google is also replacing the Assistant on Wear OS with Gemini, so in terms of AI features, 2025 looks like a bright year for smartwatches.
