Samsung adds even more new features to its advanced Good Lock UI

I’m a big fan of Samsung’s advanced Good Lock UI for the Galaxy S7, S6 and Note 5. What began as curious novelty has blossomed into a full on love affair. Good Lock gives me everything I like about TouchWiz with a stock Android overlay I have etched deep in my Android DNA. What’s even better is that Samsung is paying close attention to user feedback and pumping out monthly updates with new UI features. It’s literally the best of all possible worlds, to quote the learned professor Pangloss.

The latest update to Good Lock isn’t quite as heavy as the last one, which added the option to switch between the old and new recent apps list and a new Advanced section in the settings, but this latest update to v24.0.8 still delivers several features and changes the fans have been requesting. Among other things, Good Lock now lets you disable the Keep notifications tab (so you can swipe to dismiss in both directions), has added new Quick Settings toggle options and provided the ability to disable the app tray in the recent apps menu.

No matter what Samsung is doing with Good Lock in the long run, it is doing it in the best possible way: by responding to feedback, providing users with the ability to enable or disable the features they like or don’t like and putting out regular updates. With that being said, I think Good Lock deserves a lot more fans that it probably has right now. Would you ever have imagined the Samsung of old being this open-minded and responsive?

If you’re not particularly familiar with Good Lock, it is an app that updates over the default System UI app. It totally reimagines some parts of the UI, like the Quick Settings menu and lock screen, while keeping others, including the settings menu and app drawer, intact. It can be easily uninstalled to return things to normal but is increasingly adding toggles and advanced settings to customize it the way you like, whether you go the whole hog or just half way.

Here’s the full changelog from Good Lock 24.0.8:

• Supporting option to enable/disable KEEP
• Added Function “Delete All” in Card Type Recent Apps
• Added button “Mobile Data” in Quick Settings
• Added button “Quick Connect” in Quick Settings
• Supporting option to enable/disable App Tray in Recent Apps
• Not showing notification folder if no notification
• Status Icon visibility enhanced for white background
• Visibility in All/Keep tab enhanced
• Color change for Fingerprint Fail Popup

There’s also a whole host of bug fixes in this latest release, including:

• Recent App Error when using SIP
• Fixed Notification App Access from Lockscreen
• Fixed Noise when launching Quick Camera
• Fixed BT Search duration and range (battery life)
• Fixed Status Bar Height as same in home and lock
• Fixed Repeated notification for low battery
• Fixed create Lockscreen during call (due to proximity sensor)
• Enhanced performance when using Lockscreen effect
• Fixed not working unlock when swiping slowly
• Fixed FC using Recent Apps, while roaming and memory reader

You can download the latest version of Good lock via the Galaxy Apps store or grab the APK below.

Thanks to Snebz from Reddit for the APK upload.