Samsung is getting better and better with Android updates. The company used to be notorious for dragging its feet with new versions of Google’s OS, meaning owners of even its most premium smartphones were forced to wait months for the latest Android software. Last year the South Korean tech giant started rolling out Android 9 Pie to its flagship devices around Christmas time and this year Android 10 has come even earlier.
Samsung began pushing out its flashy new One UI skin based on Android 10 to the Galaxy S10 earlier this month. While that’s still around three months after Android 10’s official release on September 3, it still represents a huge rollout improvement.
So what exactly is new in One UI 2 based on Android 10? Well, this year the software doesn’t introduce a dramatic design change like the first version of One UI did last year, but there are a ton of great new additions that are worth testing out.
Here is Express.co.uk’s collated list of the best Android 10 features for the Galaxy S10…
Dark mode
Yes, Samsung’s original One UI based on Android 9 had a dark mode, but One UI 2 takes it to the next level.
Previously, Samsung’s dark mode would only really apply to native apps, that meant you’d still have to head to third-party apps like Twitter to turn the lights off manually.
However, the dark mode in Android 10 for the Galaxy S10 is system-wide, meaning a swathe of apps like Instagram, Gmail and YouTube will all get a gloomy makeover automatically when you turn it on.
You can turn on dark mode on your Galaxy S10 in the settings app or by using tapping its quick toggle above the notification tray.
New gestures
Google’s new gesture navigation method has arrived in Android 10 for the S10. That means you can seamlessly switch between apps and go back home with the flick of your finger.
The new gestures are most notable because they rid of Android’s traditional back button in favour of an inward swipe from either the left or right-hand side of the display.
Google’s gestures work very similarly to those introduced by Apple for the iPhone X back in 2017, meaning a swipe from the bottom of the display takes you home, a half swipe brings up your multitasking menu and flicking right from the bottom of the display switches between opened apps.
Notifications
Before the release of One UI, Samsung made a big song and dance about how it’s minimised the size of pop-ups in Android 10 so users can still focus on what they’re doing.
The Seoul-based company said: “The clean and easy-to-use interface allows users to enjoy minimised pop-ups, embedded loading indicators and simplified button arrangements. The new One UI features a streamlined design where notifications take up less space, so users are kept up-to-date while being able to focus on the task at hand. You stay focused while enjoying your favourite content in full screen and never miss any essential information.”
In addition to minimising pop-ups, Samsung is also giving users a range of new customisation features that allow you to change their aesthetic.
For example, if you regularly receive a bunch of phone calls, you have the option to make the alert take up the entire display, a large portion of it or a small segment. This can be altered in Samsung’s Phone app.