Samsung introduced stable Android 16-based One UI 8 on the newly launched Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 devices, significantly enhancing the Now Bar and Now Brief features.
Initially, the Korean tech giant introduced Now Bar and Now Brief with the Android 15-based One UI 7; later, through general software updates, it gradually enhanced the functionalities of both features. Now, with the latest Android 16-based One UI 8, it has extended the compatibility of both the Now Bar and Now Brief features.
One UI 8 makes the Now Bar compatible with more third-party apps
Initially, the Now Bar only displays real-time and progressive notifications from certain applications in a particular section of the lock screen and notification pane on Galaxy devices; the key reason behind the particular section is that the implementation of this feature is its compatibility with only Samsung-branded apps.
Finally, with the latest One UI 8, Samsung expanded the compatibility of the Now Bar feature with more third-party apps. This new integration seems significant for the Flex Window of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE.
Now Brief gets two notable upgrades with One UI 8
Samsung offered two new features to Now Brief with the One UI 8. Reportedly, Now Brief on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 can read your summaries out loud. You can easily enable this read aloud option by clicking the waveform icon placed at the top right corner, below the battery icon. Once the reading aloud starts, you are allowed to pause or end the playback at your convenience.
Samsung also introduced information cards for the Now Brief on the newly launched foldable phones, which can display summaries including parking details, smart home information, YouTube video recommendations under a “Watch these videos from YouTube” section (via), and battery warnings for wearable devices.
Currently, these new features are limited to the foldables devices, but it’s expected that the company will expand the features to more devices with the One UI 8 update.
