This is the biggest thing Samsung got wrong with its One UI 7 update

There’s been a lot of talk around Samsung’s One UI 7 update over the last week — and for good reason! As One UI 7 rolls out widely to more handsets, more people than ever are getting their hands on Samsung’s newest software. And as you might have seen by now, or noticed after downloading the update yourself, One UI 7 is proving to be a polarizing update.

While there’s a lot that One UI 7 gets right, there’s also a lot of frustration around the update. Ultimately, that frustration stems from Samsung radically changing core features that people have been using a certain way for years. With the flick of a switch, those things are completely different — and it’s not sitting well with users at all.

Where Samsung went wrong with One UI 7

Perhaps the best example is One UI 7’s new quick settings/notification panel design. I’m sure you’ve heard about it (or have been infuriated using it) by now. Samsung’s decision to split notifications and quick settings into two separate pages is a bold one, and a nice second option to have for people who want to change things up.

However, that’s not how it was introduced. Instead, everyone who downloaded One UI 7 suddenly faced this new design by default. Instead of swiping down to see your quick settings and notifications on the same page, you now only get your notifications (or quick settings, depending on where you swiped).

As expected, a lot of folks weren’t happy about it. Visiting Reddit, X, or Samsung’s community forums quickly reveals masses of people complaining about this change. It’s what inspired me to write an article talking about how to reverse the new design, and that post was immediately flooded with comments praising the ability to go back to the old one.

As happy as I was to do a bit of service journalism, I shouldn’t have had to write that article in the first place. Samsung should have rolled out its new quick settings in a way that eased people into it. Or, at the very least, show/explain to users how they can return to the previous design.

But none of that happened, and that’s why you have so many Samsung smartphone owners who are rather upset with One UI 7. And I get it! While I figured out how to use the new quick settings design and revert to the old one, it’s my job to know these things. It’s not the average smartphone user’s job to know these things.

If Samsung wants to radically change a core part of its UI, it’s on Samsung to properly explain and introduce those things to people. But it didn’t, and that poor communication is why there’s so much ill will around the update.

Change is good, but it has to be handled better

Am I saying that Samsung (or any company) should keep things the same forever? Not at all! Change is good, and it’s how we move forward to bigger and better things. However, there are right and wrong ways to release significant user-facing changes, and Samsung did the latter with One UI 7.

With the quick settings/notification panel example, there are numerous other ways Samsung could have introduced this to users. Rather than making it the default option out of the box, there should have been an onboarding process showing how the new design works, followed by an option to stick with it or return to the old layout. And even if you chose to stick with the new version, there should have been easier (or better-explained) steps for getting rid of it if you changed your mind.

While the quick settings split design is the most prominent example, it’s not the only surprise UI update that threw people for a loop. There’s been similar confusion and frustration with the new notification lock screen icons, Gemini taking over the power button, and even the vertically-scrolling app drawer.

I’m all for Samsung creating a new quick settings interface or reimagining how we see lock screen notifications. Hell, I’m down with any company thinking of new ways for us to use our Android phones. But when those big changes come, they can’t be thrown onto people with little to no explanation. When people have learned to use their phone a certain way and have done so for years, any changes to those processes have to be handled delicately. Samsung did not do that with One UI 7, and it shows.

With One UI 8 coming later this summer — likely with more new features/changes of its own — I hope Samsung learns its lesson and doesn’t repeat this mistake it made with One UI 7. Folks are pretty unhappy as is, and I’m not sure Samsung can afford another update that