Samsung's One UI Is a Complete Reimagining of its Mobile Software

For years, Samsung has been haunted by the company’s TouchWiz UI, a skin for Google’s Android software that even Samsung doesn’t like. And while the Korean company has made an effort to distance itself from the ghosts of TouchWiz past, it’s still present in today’s top Samsung flagships. But not anymore.

Samsung on Wednesday introduced One UI, a complete reimagining of the company’s software principles. With One UI, Samsung has created a user experience that is less cluttered and much easier to navigate with one hand.

“With One UI, users see only what they need, when they need it, so they can stay focused on what matters,” explained Jeewon Lee, Senior Designer of UX Design at Samsung.

It seems to take a lot of inspiration from Google’s Material Design, at least from a design standpoint. But, going a step further, Samsung is focusing on making big mobile devices easier to use. That means putting “interaction areas” toward the bottom of the display, while saving the top half solely for viewing content.

You can see a video of Samsung’s impressive new One UI in the video above. It still very much looks like Samsung software, sticking with the same cartoonish colors, but it’s a major improvement over what’s available now.

Samsung said it will soon kick off a beta test program for One UI starting with the U.S., Germany, and Korea. Fans can expect a wide launch for the Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9 Plus, and Galaxy Note 9 in January when Samsung makes Android Pie available.