One UI 8 could make setting your Samsung Galaxy phone up much simpler — here’s how

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It’s a small change, but one many will appreciate

Best Samsung phones 2025.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide / John Velasco)

Usually, setting up a new phone is a pretty straightforward process, but even the best Samsung phones still have one annoying tendency when it comes to picking navigation preferences. However, that could soon change with One UI 8.

In a recent report, SammyGuru discovered evidence that future releases of One UI 8 could allow users to choose between gesture and button navigation options while setting up the phone. This would give users the freedom to choose alongside the rest of set-up, rather than Samsung defaulting to the three-button option in the current version. This forces users to go into the display settings to change to gestures themselves if they wish to do so.

New option to select navigation on Samsung phones

(Image credit: SammyGuru)

Not only would this make setting up the phone less of a hassle, but it would also make it much easier when migrating from another brand. Currently, Samsung is one of the few brands that don’t offer this option at the start, with most Android phones offering users the choice at the start.

What else does One UI 8 bring?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 shown in hand

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

One UI 8 is in an interesting place, as most Samsung phones only have access to the beta. However, both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 are now on sale with the new OS pre-installed. As such, we have a good idea of what most phones can expect when the stable version launches, which is a focus on improving the overall quality of life for Samsung users over big new features.

Part of that involves noticeable improvements to features introduced in One UI 7, including changes to how useful the Now Bar is, thanks to the addition of live call handling and do-not-disturb functions to the Bar. However, not every feature we’ve heard of has appeared yet. For instance, there are rumors that Samsung is bringing a major improvement for Live Captions that will allow it to translate speech, matching what is available on rival devices, like Google's Pixel 9 Pro with its Live Translate feature.

If you don't have one of the most recent Samsung foldables then you can download the One UI 8 beta to test many of these new features if you have a recent flagship or mid-priced Galaxy phone and live in the U.S. or U.K. Alternatively, the stable release is expected around September 2025. If you do plan on trying the beta, we’d recommend backing up your Samsung phone, as there can be issues when trying to run certain apps.

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Josh Render
Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer. 

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