One UI 8 Is Good — Here’s How to Make It Even Better by Tweaking These Settings
Samsung’s One UI 8 brings welcome improvements and new features, but some out-of-the-box defaults leave room for improvement. If you’ve got the update, or are about to, here are several setting tweaks that can make your Galaxy phone feel faster, more usable, and more personal.
Key Settings to Adjust
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Dynamic Wallpapers & Clock Styling
Under the “Wallpapers & Style” settings, explore the new Dynamic category of wallpapers. These change color subtly throughout the day to reflect morning, noon, evening, and night. Pair them with bold clock fonts and the “Auto” color accent so the clock and UI accents evolve too. It adds flair without draining noticeable battery. -
Enable Advanced Protection
In the safety settings (look under device or personal safety), there’s an “Advanced Protection” toggle. Turning it on enables multiple defensive features: locking the USB port to charging-only mode, blocking insecure Wi-Fi connections, enabling malware scanning in Google Play, and setting theft detection. It tightens security significantly. -
Customize the Now Bar / Now Brief
One UI 8 enhances the Now Bar (or Now Brief) widget, which shows you brief, at-a-glance info like weather, calendar events, traffic, and reminders. You can adjust what content appears, and even allow it to expand without unlocking the phone. Limiting it to only the alerts and info you care about keeps it helpful, not intrusive. -
Secure Folder Enhancements
The Secure Folder gets more privacy tools. You can now require biometric authentication (fingerprint) specifically for Secure Folder, separate from your device unlock method. There’s also a shortcut option: hide the Secure Folder so it disappears from the app list, closes open apps inside it, and blocks notifications from them. -
Audio Eraser Shortcut
If you often deal with noisy video recordings, the new quick toggle for “Audio Eraser” in the Gallery (and some other apps) is a game changer. You can remove background noise with a tap while viewing videos. For more control, the editor mode lets you fine-tune what kinds of noises to remove.
Why These Changes Help
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Privacy & Security: Features like Advanced Protection and Secure Folder options guard against threats or unwanted access, which many users might not realize are off by default.
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Personalization & Visual Appeal: Dynamic wallpapers, evolving accents, and clock styling make the phone feel more custom and fresh, which improves day-to-day satisfaction.
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Usability & Efficiency: Adjusting Now Bar, hiding what you don’t need, and turning on helpful features makes the phone less cluttered and more responsive.
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Better Multimedia Experience: The audio fixes can make recordings cleaner; fewer distractions and better sound quality go a long way.
What to Be Aware of
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Some of these features (like dynamic wallpapers with animations, or live widgets/Now Bar expansions) may use more battery, especially on older or less powerful models.
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Biometric security and Secure Folder hiding can add friction if you frequently need things stored in Secure Folder — remember your PIN/fingerprint settings well.
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New security features are great but could interfere with certain accessories, chargers, or apps that expect full USB/data access.
