These 4 Samsung One UI features seemed pointless until I actually used them

Published Jul 23, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT Abhishek is an author at XDA who covers computing. He has loved computers since he got the Lenovo G570 in 2012. Abhishek holds a master's degree in computer applications and began his writing career in 2018. He loves writing how-to articles, listicles, and informational posts on popular operating systems and web services. He closely follows the Windows Insider program and tests new Insider builds to discover upcoming experimental features and upgrades. His past work includes long-term collaborations with reputed publications like Tom's Hardware, and Windows Latest. When not writing anything, he is busy watching new episodes of One Piece or searching for something binge-worthy. Most Android smartphone OEMs use a custom skin to add a personal touch along with some exclusive features. I've used MIUI (now HyperOS) for a long time before switching to Samsung One UI. I've briefly used OnePlus OxygenOS as well, and each of them tries to do something unique with the Android experience. Samsung One UI has several interesting features that have been refined with time. I might not have liked them in the beginning, but they grew on me and are now indispensable in my daily smartphone usage habits. Whether it's Good Lock to customize the phone's UI, DeX that turns my phone into a portable workstation, or Edge panels that pack all the necessary items I need without cluttering the main page. Let's discuss these features and how you can use them to refine your One UI experience. Good Lock Customize One UI to the core Good Lock is an official Samsung app, and it can work wonders for One UI customization. I won't say that One UI isn't customizable, but Samsung tries to offer a standard UI experience rather than granting you full control over everything. But Good Lock can open the door to all those settings and features you wish were a part of the standard One UI design. Good Lock is a central app with multiple sub-apps (plugins) for each major UI element. For example, you have QuickStar for Quick Panel and gesture customization, LockStar for lock screen tweaks, Edge Lighting+ for changing light effects that look amazing on Always On Display (AOD), and more. My phone’s currently on One UI version 8.0, and in that I can adjust the theme or create one from scratch using the Theme Park plugin. I can change and edit everything, right from the lock screen or home screen appearance to the color and size of elements inside an app. For example, I can build a unique-looking Quick Panel by making small color changes that make it easy to spot useful elements. I can make the Wi-Fi button appear in a distinct color, adjust the visual effects, and more. After that, I can download the theme and apply it to the phone. It's possible to create multiple designs of UI elements like the Quick Panel, keyboard, and a few more. LockStar is another useful plugin that can add lock screen widgets, add a quick launch button for favorite apps, or settings. The upcoming version plans to add animation effects. There are more such plugins in Good Lock, like Nice Shot for screen capture needs and MultiStar for stacking multiple apps on the screen. Edge Panels Samsung's Edge Panels aren't new and remain one of the most used features on my Samsung Galaxy phone. It's a vertical sidebar with direct links to launch your favorite apps and shows some recently used ones. But don't just mistake it for a static sidebar, as you can add more such panels in the settings. So, it becomes a multiple-panel design that you can cycle between. I can display the app list on one panel, my contacts list on the second, and display the weather card on the third. It remembers the last open panel, and I can tap on the screen to exit the panel mode. The contact panel is most useful because I can call my friends and family or text them without first launching the contacts or messaging app. It even allows me to choose the phone number if the contact has multiple entries. Modes and routines Make the phone adapt to your behavior Modes and routines are such an underrated feature that I initially ignored as bloatware. But when I tried using it, I realized that it was the automation my phone desperately needed. Modes and routines sound similar, but routines have more precise control and require all trigger points to be met to work. I use modes most of the time, as they are quite simple to set up and can do a few tasks when a predefined condition occurs. For example, I want my phone to enter Sleep mode, which is a predefined mode in the app. To do that, I can choose a time setting that will perform a few actions, like enable DND, turn the phone into grayscale mode, and do some additional actions. It's just the basic level of how a mode can work. I can set a general sleep schedule that will tell my phone to do all the sleep mode actions. I can also add conditions that offer much better control. My Wi-Fi connection stays active throughout the day, and I only turn it off when I want to sleep. So, I can configure the Wi-Fi connection condition, which tells the phone to enter Sleep mode whenever I disconnect the Wi-Fi. Routines let you define more precise conditions. Like, I want my phone to drop the Bluetooth connection to my speaker when I pick up a call. It's a genuine problem that I face when I play music via my Bluetooth speaker, and it's slightly far away. Its mic cannot transfer my voice clearly, so using this custom routine, I can temporarily disconnect the speaker, wait for my call to end, and then reconnect again. DeX A portable desktop experience Samsung DeX lets you use your phone as a PC by connecting it to a display. You can connect wirelessly or use a USB-C to HDMI adapter for a wired connection. After that, you must connect some peripherals like a keyboard or mouse via a USB adapter or Bluetooth, and then use apps in DeX mode. The biggest advantage is that apps try to adapt to a bigger resolution display, and you can do basic tasks like web browsing or editing files in apps. Since the feature depends on your phone's hardware, don't expect it to work like a full-scale desktop or laptop. Yet, I can temporarily use apps in multi-window mode and get more work done than I would accomplish on my small phone display. Don’t ignore these One UI features Samsung’s One UI features improve my productivity and grant me control over OS elements that vanilla Android phones lack. Edge Panels let me create a functional sidebar with quick access to my favorite people, apps, and tools, while Modes and routines tell my phone to behave in a certain manner when an event occurs. I suggest using Good Lock if you want to customize One UI more than what’s available in the phone settings. Samsung Galaxy S26 SoC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Display 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x The latest flagship phone from Samsung has more AI features and a new One UI version. RAM 12 GB Storage 256 or 512 GB Battery 4,300 mAh