Customizing One UI 8.5: 6 settings and features worth tweaking

One UI 8.5 gives you more room to customize and tune the look and behavior of your Galaxy phone than you might think. Some of these options remain in the stock settings, and others are available through the Samsung Lock app.

Here are a few views to set up, from the quick panel to AI-generated wallpapers.

The quick panel is the easiest place to start. Access it by swiping down from the top of the screen twice, tap the edit icon (pencil), and you can move the toggles around, move them around, and resize them. Some toggles collapse to one square or expand to both.

The brightness and volume sliders can stay horizontal or flip vertically, and the media player changes size depending on what’s playing. If nothing is playing, it stays at its default size.

To remove a toggle you don’t use, such as Modes, tap the “-” icon next to it to remove it. Tap Add a controller for more toggles, including toggles for third-party apps like Amazon or Google TV.

If you want better resizing control, install Good Lock from the Galaxy Store or Google Play Store and install the QuickStar module from the Good Lock Plugins tab.

Open QuickStar from Good Lock, turn it on, then turn it on Advanced settingsOpen it Resize panel items. Now you can make toggles and sliders larger than the stock editor allows. That said, don’t go overboard, as each resize makes the Quick Panel messier than the stock layout.

The camera interface may not seem customizable, but Good Lock Camera Assistant proves otherwise. Those little pointers on the top of the viewfinder can pile up, but you can remove them.

First, install Camera Assistant from the Galaxy Store (alternatively, download the Good Lock app from the Galaxy Store or Google Play Store and install Camera Assistant from the Good Lock Plugins tab).

Open Camera Assistant from the app drawer or the camera app settings, scroll down, and tap Custom directions.

From there, turn on the ones you don’t want to get a clean viewfinder. Don’t worry: everything you’ve deleted is always available in the four-dot menu at the bottom right of the viewfinder.

You can remove indicators in both photo and video mode. However, a few, such as Log and HDR, will always be visible in Video mode as they are enabled elsewhere in the camera settings. Resolution reading is also persistent to ensure you always know what resolution you’re shooting at.

Home Up is another Good Lock module, and it adds a small but useful option for One UI 8.5: custom home screen folder sizes.

Install Home Up from the Plugins tab of the Good Lock app and open it, then open Home using the top toggle so you can access all its features.

Then, press the button Home screen card and scroll down to find out A large folder. Of A large folder menu, you will find a Custom preparation. Allow it. Now, if you long press a folder on the home screen, you will be able to change it freely.

Be careful: Before you can resize a folder, you may need to enlarge it first. To do so, long press the folder and press the Expand button from the options that appear.

With One UI 8.5, you can hide photos and videos behind a fingerprint or passcode using the Private Album feature.

You can make a photo or video private by opening it in the Gallery app, by tapping a button More (⋮) button, and selection Move to private album. You can also move multiple photos and videos to a private album at once.

To access these private photos and videos, press the button The menu button on the home screen of the Gallery app and select A private album. To extract photos and videos from a private album, just open them and press the Move button at the bottom.

One UI 8.5 changes the way you create AI wallpapers. Instead of the old filling method, Creative Studio can create an image around your image.

Open Creative Studio in the app drawer, then scroll left to find and tap Create a background image button. First, choose a style — children’s drawing, oil painting, webtoon, 3D cartoon, and so on — by tapping the wand icon, then add a photo from your gallery that you want to create a wallpaper with.

Then, use the text field to describe what you’re looking for, such as “the village facing this view” (this is just an example). Hit Produceand Creative Studio will combine your information, image, and style into a finished wallpaper.

Don’t like the result? You can edit the information, change the style, or generate another version. When you find something you like, press the button Set as wallpaper button and use it on your home screen, lock screen, or both.

Samsung DeX has received its biggest update in a long time. You can now add widgets to the DeX home screen, giving the desktop layout a tablet-like feel while keeping the desktop environment intact.

Adding widgets to DeX is easy. Just right-click on an empty area of ​​the desktop (if you’re using your phone’s display as a DeX trackpad, press the display with two fingers to simulate a right-click) and select Widgets.