Apple has some great software features that its fans love, particularly on the iPhone, which remains the company's best-selling hardware device. It has been a few years since it brought the Dynamic Island and Live Activities features to iOS, and we've already seen some Android manufacturers take inspiration from those features.
Samsung, a company that remains Apple's biggest rival, has so far resisted the temptation to make something similar, but that apparently changes with One UI 7.0. The upcoming major update is likely going to bring two of Apple users' favorite iOS features to the latest iteration of One UI.
One UI 7.0 gets some very Apple-inspired features
News and rumors about One UI 7.0 have started trickling in as the company is expected to begin the beta program in the near future, which would enable users to take this version of Samsung's custom skin for a spin alongside Android 15.
There have been reports that One UI 7.0 may bring significant design improvements, have more colorful app icons aided by ultra-smooth animations. It may even allow users to declutter the home screen.
The latest, from (via @chunvn8888), mentions that “Samsung's version” of the Dynamic Island and Live Activities iOS features will be present on One UI 7.0. Dynamic Island was Apple's way of increasing the usability of the infamous notched displays of the iPhone. It can show relevant information like timers, allow for music control, and view interactions with Apple Pay and Face ID.
Live Activities are essentially lock screen notifications from apps that can update themselves automatically. For example, a sports app may show the results of the game in almost close to real time, enabling you to keep up with the action without having to unlock the device.
It's unclear at this point in time what Samsung's versions of these features will be called and whether Samsung will kick things up a notch and make them useful in other ways. One thing's for sure though, we'll continue to see many leaks and rumors about One UI 7.0 in the coming weeks and months.