The popular Now Bar and Now Brief features from One UI 7 are not just sticking around for One UI 8—they are getting even better! Samsung users should be really looking forward to these two powerful additions.

1. Now Brief:

Now Brief,” an AI feature first seen on the Galaxy S25 with One UI 7, is expanding its reach. With the One UI 8 update, it will become available on a wider range of Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy S24 lineup.

A cool new feature: “Now Brief” will now look at your contacts and use AI to create unique birthday greetings for you. You’ll then be able to easily share these AI-made messages with your friends and family. It’s like having a personal assistant helping you remember and celebrate special days.

One UI 8

2. Live Updates on Now Bar:

“Samsung’s Android 15 skin introduced the ‘Now Bar,’ a cool feature that shows live updates right on your lock screen. Google later added a similar function called ‘Live Updates’ in Android 16, which is available on Pixel phones.

Android 16’s Live Updates are integrating with Samsung’s Now Bar in One UI 8. Google confirmed food-delivery alerts are coming to Now Bar as live alerts. The company is also working with third-party app developers to optimize real-time alerts.

One UI 8 is designed to unleash the full power of the ‘Now Bar.’ Expect a gradual but significant improvement in live alerts from both Samsung and Google. With new collaborations, this ‘pill’ on your lock screen will become your go-to for real-time updates.

One UI 8 is bringing another smart notification upgrade: force-grouping. Just like Android 16 plans to do, this will help reduce notification clutter by letting you access a whole group of alerts with just one tap.

The improved Now Brief and Now Bar alone offer enough value to make One UI 8 a highly anticipated upgrade. While these enhancements are certainly compelling, there’s still a wealth of new features awaiting your Galaxy.

Huawei’s Pura 80 series just launched around the world, but there was a surprise for fans: these new phones are using EMUI software, which is based on Android, instead of Huawei’s own HarmonyOS. This wasn’t what many loyal Huawei users were hoping for.

When the Huawei Pura 80 series launched in China with native HarmonyOS, global users got their hopes up. However, those hopes were dashed when the international Pura 80 models were revealed to be running EMUI 15 instead.

Essentially, the US government placed restrictions on Huawei a few years ago. These restrictions made it very difficult for Huawei to use certain American technologies and services, including Google’s Android services (like the Play Store and Google Maps) and the microchips needed to run many advanced features.

Huawei Pura 80

HarmonyOS was created to be its own operating system. However, early versions included Android parts, which was smart. This allowed Huawei to keep existing EMUI apps working, rather than forcing users into a HarmonyOS-only app world immediately.

Huawei spent several years developing its own dedicated app environment behind the scenes. They intentionally let users continue using their existing EMUI/Android apps until their mobile technology was fully optimized for native applications.

HarmonyOS NEXT, introduced in early 2024, signaled Huawei’s native OS shift. This version supports only pure HarmonyOS apps, shedding its Android past. Since its announcement, Huawei has engaged thousands of top Chinese app developers to build native apps, which largely appeared on AppGallery in 2024.

In China, HarmonyOS boasts a flourishing native app ecosystem. However, outside of China, it’s the complete opposite. Because there aren’t enough native apps, Huawei has no current roadmap to bring its own OS to global users.

Global Huawei Pura 80 models feature EMUI 15, not HarmonyOS, due to app compatibility needs. Even so, EMUI 15 integrates numerous HarmonyOS 5 features, such as advanced AI and personalization.”

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is gearing up for a next-generation display. According to a reliable tip, it could feature CoE OLED and “depolarization technology.” These innovations promise to deliver a noticeably clearer screen, extend battery life, and contribute to a sleeker overall design.

This new CoE OLED will make screens thinner and use less power, which means your phone’s battery could last longer! You will also see more vibrant colors and less annoying reflections on the screen, making everything look better.

Thanks to the new CoE OLED screen making light pass through better, the display uses less energy. This means your Galaxy S26 Ultra could actually last longer on a single charge than the S25 Ultra, even if they have the same size battery! Plus, because the screen itself will be thinner, the whole phone could end up with an even slimmer design.

CoE OLED:

CoE OLED replaces the legacy polarizer with a color filter and swaps the standard Pixel Definition Layer (PDL) with a black PDL. This change makes the display thinner and boosts light transmission, lowering power consumption.

Adding to the display improvements, a tipster mentioned the Galaxy S26 Ultra will feature a new, advanced third-generation CoE+ anti-reflective coating. This specific coating will further reduce the screen’s thickness and help trim down the phone’s overall weight, allowing Samsung to create a remarkably sleeker and more elegant S26 Ultra.

While the input comes from a trusted source, it remains unconfirmed till Samsung officially spills the beans. The next-gen flagship phones will launch in early 2026, which will bring some notable upgrades over the S25 series.

There’s a strong rumor that the Galaxy S26 Ultra might come with a new 200-megapixel camera sensor from Sony. This sensor could be almost one inch in size, which is a significant upgrade from Samsung’s current ISOCELL HP2 sensor. While some initially thought this big change might only happen with the S27 Ultra, current leaks suggest it’s a real possibility for the S26 Ultra.

Samsung’s head of mobile design recently talked about where phones are headed. He said that future products will focus on connecting all your devices together in a smart way. The Galaxy S26 series might be the first phone where the AI feels so natural, it’s almost like talking to a human.