Here’s our first look at Samsung’s themed icons in One UI 7

When it comes to phone customization, no operating system does it better than Android. While iOS 18 is set to introduce tons of new styling options that will bring Apple iPhones to a more user-friendly state, such as through themed home screen icons and app locking, Android still has it beat. Android 15 is on the horizon, and other phone manufacturers like Samsung are readying to drop their own skins on top of the Android OS. One UI 7 is the next iteration of Samsung’s flavor of Android, and its first beta was rumored to drop today, but unfortunately, it may have been delayed due to a myriad of stability issues. Nonetheless, we’ve gotten hints of what Samsung is planning for its home screen app themeing, and recent images have all but confirmed a Google-like icon revamp.

Related

Samsung’s One UI 7 beta appears to be on hold

Not rolling out as early as we had expected

Twitter (X) user Chun Bhai (@chunvn8888) published images of a blue-and-white color palette theme from a publicly unreleased version of One UI 7’s first beta. It appears to back up previous leaks that claimed One UI 7 would include support for themed apps on the home screen that mimicked Material You’s design decisions. An update for the Samsung Clock app further stoked the flames, teasing One UI 7’s fresh redesign. Unfortunately, not all apps in the leaked image adhere to the palate change, most notably Facebook and Netflix.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

While One UI 6.1 gained some useful home screen customization options like the ability to change app icon sizes, One UI 7’s rumors have promised even more. One UI 7 is reportedly basing itself off of iOS 18, and it isn’t the first time in recent weeks we’ve talked about Samsung taking heavy inspiration from Apple. Apple might be copying Google’s Material You, which came into its own with Android 12, for iOS 18, showing that competition does indeed force everyone to do the same thing as time progresses. Imitation, flattery, and all that.

In all honesty, Samsung dropped the ball on incorporating the ability to give its users the ability to change home screen icon color palettes when Google added it on a wide scale in Android 13. Instead, it looks like Samsung is following Apple’s Google-led track. With Samsung’s One UI 7 beta appearing to be on hold, one has to wonder how long it will take for us to finally get a chance to mess around with Samsung’s new customization options.