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The Now Bar on the best Samsung phones is about to get a lot more useful – and could soon match Live Activities on iOS
- Now Bar is a key new feature in One UI 7
- More third-party app integrations are reportedly on the way
- One UI 8 is due to release in July 2025
Update 24/07: Samsung has confirmed that it plans to increase the number of Now Bar-supported apps and services from around 20 to up to 35 by the end of 2025. The rest of the article remains as originally published.
Samsung launched One UI 7 (its take on Android 15) at the same time as the Galaxy S25 flagships back in January, and one of the key new features is the lock screen Now Bar – a feature which is set to get much more useful in the near future.
According to South Korean outlet ET News (via SamMobile), more third-party apps are set to support the Now Bar – though there’s no specific timeframe for the integration. Two South Korean apps are mentioned specifically, Kakao T for booking taxi rides and Naver Sports for live sports scores.
Presumably, those efforts to add more third-party apps will extend internationally, though ET News doesn’t namecheck any others. The more apps support the Now Bar, the more useful it becomes, which means more users will take advantage of it.
Samsung has been pushing the Now Bar as a major innovation in One UI 7, and we’ve also described it as one of the best features in the software. It’s essentially Samsung’s take on Live Activities on iOS, displaying useful information from apps right on the lock screen, which can be updated in real-time.
Making use of the Now Bar
If you have a Samsung Galaxy S25, you’ve got One UI 7 already – and the Now Bar is most likely already appearing at the bottom of your lock screen, displaying widgets for timers, the Now Brief summary, media playback, and more.
Head to Settings and choose Lock screen and AOD to find the Now Bar page. You’ll see you can set which apps appear in the Now Bar from here: currently, the list is dominated by Samsung and Google apps, which is why third-party app integrations would be welcome going forward.
Google Maps is one app that recently added Now Bar support, so you can see turn-by-turn directions on the lock screen. Android already offers persistent notifications for this sort of real-time information, but the Now Bar makes it easier to get at on a locked phone.
We’re still waiting for One UI 7 to make its way to Samsung handsets beyond the Galaxy S25 series, though the rollout is scheduled to get underway next month. It’s not clear at the moment how recent a phone you’re going to need to take advantage of the Now Bar feature, but we should get some clarity on that soon.
Customizing your Lock Screen
Beyond the Now Bar, there are plenty of ways to customize the always-on display on the Galaxy S25 line up. You can obviously change the colors and fonts, and play with the wallpapers and clocks. But its widgets that really let you personalize the screen and make it your own.
The Now Bar is a powerful widget, but just one of many available on the phone. Long press on the home screen to customize it, and select from a battery widget, camera, calendar, voice recorder and more. Or you can go through Samsung’s Good Lock app to further customize.
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