It’s essential to change this setting as quickly as you get your Galaxy S25

First impressions are every part, and I am undecided Samsung made a fantastic one with the Galaxy S25 collection. Myself, my fellow Android Police colleagues, and reviewers throughout the trade met this week’s newest Android flagship with a little bit of a shrug. A slim quantity of year-over-year modifications allowed Samsung to make Galaxy AI the star of the present, however I am undecided anybody actually believes it is sufficient to make an actual affect — particularly if a very good chunk of these instruments find yourself coming to older gadgets within the coming months.

However all of that goes out the door when you get your fingers by yourself evaluate unit. I spent my first couple of hours with the Galaxy S25 Extremely yesterday dashing by means of a clear setup — I’ve had sufficient points with information transfers on previous Samsung telephones, thanks very a lot. What I’ve discovered exterior of all of the noise is a really typical 2025 flagship, with the entire strengths and caveats that include it. Sadly, a quiet first few hours revealed some of the surprising One UI 7 modifications I may’ve imagined, and when you’re upgrading to an S25, you will need to be sure to find out about it too.

One UI 7 hides notifications out of your lock display screen by default

Who requested for this?

Loads of the modifications inside One UI 7 are fairly acquainted. Some tweaks, just like the Now Bar and the brand new fast settings structure, are straight impressed by Apple’s final couple of iOS updates. Others come from collaborations with Google, like Gemini’s new look, or enhancements to Circle to Search. Even wholly recent concepts, like Now Transient, are pulling inspiration from previous ideas like Google Now. The Galaxy S25 collection is, largely talking, a mish-mash of concepts new and previous — with one essential exception.

All through my first few hours with the Galaxy S25 Extremely, I observed myself lacking incoming notifications. Initially, I assumed this was an app-centric drawback, particularly after I noticed Telegram’s permissions had, for some motive, allowed for notifications however disabled all significant alerts. Person error, I reassured myself. However as one other hour handed, it turned more and more conscious that one thing truly was improper with my S25 Extremely. On the very least, some settings weren’t enabled correctly.

Properly of us, I used to be proper — my settings have been screwed up, and when you’re planning on upgrading to One UI 7, yours will likely be too. As finest as I can inform from quite a few evaluate models, One UI now ships with lock display screen notifications hidden totally. You may nonetheless see icons alongside the highest of the display screen like common, however to truly see any significant context, any precise info, you will must swipe all the way down to entry your notification tray.

As I stated, my cellphone went by means of a clear set up, which doubtless means that is how One UI 7 works by default. I’ve additionally confirmed the precise drawback with a number of reviewers who did carry out a knowledge switch from earlier Samsung telephones working One UI 6, implying that Samsung’s forthcoming replace push may conceal notifications from each cellphone, not simply the Galaxy S25 collection. (For what it is value, I did not discover this on my Galaxy S24 Extremely working the preliminary One UI 7 beta, although Ben Schoon at 9to5Google confirmed this in his personal testing).

It is attainable this modifications someday within the close to future, however at launch, it appears One UI 7 radically modifications the way you count on to work together with notifications by default.

I can not determine why Samsung made this variation

However I can consider a world the place it truly is smart

There may be, to be clear, no warning that that is how your cellphone works now. It flies within the face of virtually each smartphone of the final fifteen-plus years, the collective muscle reminiscence the general public has constructed up with how smartphones work. Wake your display screen, see your notifications — it has been that easy because the earliest days of the fashionable cell world. Whereas this new implementation at the moment makes your incoming alerts a bit of extra non-public, it does so at the price of easy accessibility. Worse, it does so with out telling you in regards to the change.

The individuals who have Galaxy S25 models of their fingers proper now are, nearly completely, reporters, reviewers, and content material creators. These customers — and probably the most enthusiastic of early adopters — are more likely to spot this kind of drawback immediately. They’re additionally precisely the type who know which three-levels-deep menu to examine for a repair. However the S25 lineup will not be completely for reviewers or early adopters. Thousands and thousands of standard customers are going to purchase this cellphone and discover themselves stumped as to the place their notifications went.

Samsung has acquired loads of grief for turning into an excessive amount of of a follower, not a pacesetter. Loads of (digital) ink has been spilled over the plain Apple influences which have come roaring again all through this decade. This transfer to reframe how the lock display screen features by default is, to Samsung’s credit score, a purely unique thought. It additionally simply occurs to be a nasty one, at the least in its present state.

I am not essentially towards rethinking how notifications and your lock display screen go collectively. It is Samsung’s implementation right here that’s the drawback. With a concentrate on the Now Bar, Samsung may’ve constructed a brand new dwelling for notifications, clearing muddle in your lock display screen whereas making a extra helpful hub. Now Transient may’ve performed a task, working to catch you up on no matter’s been missed because you final touched your cellphone. On a less complicated degree, prompting customers throughout setup may’ve allowed for a extra individualistic method to managing notifications, somewhat than making an enormous change for a broad inhabitants of smartphone customers.

Samsung did not do any of that, after all. The top result’s a complicated method to the lock display screen, leaving it as little greater than a barrier between your smartphone and pocket dials. An thought totally distinctive to Samsung’s {hardware}, solely to cease wanting truly transport an attention-grabbing product.

If you happen to’re transferring to One UI 7, preserve a watch out for that setting

It would simply prevent from missed notifications

For now, we’re left with an odd choice by Samsung that ensures Galaxy S25 house owners — and different Galaxy customers in a post-One UI 7 world — might want to carry out a further process after organising their cellphone. You’ll find that setting beneath Notifications > Lock display screen notifications; altering “icons” to “playing cards” brings again the standard Android notification expertise. It’s miles from the tip of the world, but it surely’s definitely a complicated choice on Samsung’s half. It might be laying the bottom for a extra considerate method to notifications, however within the quick time period, it is one thing that’ll trigger extra hurt than good.