This App Brings the Now Brief Experience to All Galaxy Devices

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Now Brief on Galaxy devices is a one-stop hub that brings all sorts of information into one place. A great way to start the day, and to check up on throughout the day. Debuted on the Galaxy S25 series with One UI 7.0, the feature has slowly rolled out to several other models, but not all. Users on lower-end or older devices haven’t and likely won’t receive Now Brief. But one developer took matters into their own hands to bring the experience to all Galaxy devices. 

Disclaimer: This app review is not sponsored in any way. The app was tested and evaluated based on personal experience, and all opinions expressed in this article are entirely our own.

Get a taste of Now Brief on unsupported Galaxy devices

MukulBolt9, an open source app developer, recently published NowBrief, a faithful interpretation of the One UI feature, with some unique features. Once you install the app, you grant a couple of permissions and tap Start on the NowBrief service to get started. Now swipe home, and you’ll see a new live activity in your status bar, on the Now Bar, and in your notifications.

Tap to expand it, and you’ll see a somewhat familiar interface. A large greeting message, and short, snappy cards that give you a quick overview of the day. There are weather insights, top news stories, health info, and much more. If that wasn’t enough, it can even show a network speed meter, as some other similar apps do.

Where this app differs from Samsung’s Now Brief is content is separated into different pages. Weather gives you a clean way to check the forecast for the day (without taking you to an external website). News gives you some preset categories, along with a search bar to get a summary of the latest from your interests. Finally, Vitals gives you insight into your health stats, like sleep and steps. 

It also appears on your Now Bar

Many of these features are powered by Gemini models, alongside AI-powered search tools. You don’t even need to provide an API key. This app also hooks into Samsung’s Live Notification system by spoofing its package name, meaning it shows up right alongside the other apps that can appear on your Now Bar. This does mean that you cannot use Kakao Taxi alongside this app. Be sure not to update it from the Play Store either.

This project is still very much in its infancy, so there are many bugs and quirks to iron out. I also wish it would hook into systems like Health Connect for more accurate health stats from apps like Samsung Health or Google Health. 

Nonetheless, this app is best suited for lower-end or older Galaxy devices that don’t natively support the real Now Brief. While there have been workarounds in the past, they’ve been patched up. So this is the next best option. 

As always, do take care before sideloading an app from unofficial sources. We ran a virus check and didn’t have anything flag up, but always take caution. If you want to try it, download the latest APK release from GitHub and install it on your Galaxy device. 

If you have an app you’d like us to try out, hit us up at [email protected]

Written by

Josh Skinner

Josh is a freelance writer, graphic and user interface designer, and content creator. He has a sizable following on Twitter/X, with his deep insights, extensive knowledge and design skills attracting audiences. He also loves lego, video games and tech as a whole.

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