As we get into November, we’re learning more and more about One UI 7.0. At this point, we’ve seen an official promo video, numerous new features, and a full UI redesign. In the early stages of the leaks, we heard that Samsung was planning a feature similar to Apple’s live activities. We now know that this feature is called NowBar. Prolific Samsung leaker Chun Bai broke the news over on X, mentioning that this is the current name internally for the new feature.
Honestly, NowBar is a pretty awful name, and we hope that Samsung has a change of heart before the final release of One UI 7.0. It certainly seems that this could be an internal codename, and it may not make it to the beta or production release under this moniker.
On the other hand, the feature itself seems very useful and beautifully implemented. Unlike Apple’s version which lives in the Dynamic Island, Samsung added the overlay to the notification shade. Not only that, but each activity also lives on the bottom of the lock screen, and it is easy to swipe between them. It remains to be seen which apps are supported by NowBar, but we’ve already seen Clock, Recorder, and Phone used in the early promotional video.
How Good Can NowBar be?
The make or break for NowBar will not be the name, but how robust the app support is at launch and shortly after. Apple works with developers to fine tune functionality on iOS before release. As a result, Live Activities on iPhone have a range of third-party app support. If Samsung can bring in several key app developers to add compelling use cases, this could be a killer feature in One UI 7.0.
We’re super excited for the upcoming beta release and can’t wait to share every new feature! Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and bookmark the site for more great Samsung and One UI 7.0 news. Let us know over on X what you think of the NowBar name, should Samsung keep it?
