What I hate most about smartphones is Settings. It’s laborious to arrange a Settings menu, and right this moment’s telephones show that. Even the very best telephones have horrible Settings, and since it is such a problem, I wish to make Settings the main target of my argument to elucidate how Samsung’s OneUI software program has gotten so horrible, and why Apple’s iOS is healthier. Buckle up, as a result of I’m opening Settings, and it’s about to get ugly as a result of Settings are unhealthy all over the place, however particularly on a Samsung cellphone.
What’s the very best I can count on from a Settings menu? Nothing. Actually. I hope to by no means use Settings. On a great smartphone, Settings wouldn’t exist. The AI revolution in smartphones is main up to now. Finally, AI goes to handle Settings. You’ll inform the AI what you want, and it’ll make the changes.
To that finish, Samsung may find yourself with the BEST Settings on any smartphone. Bixby, Samsung’s much-maligned digital assistant, is constructed to handle Settings. Most of what you wish to do together with your Galaxy cellphone, and what I’ll complain about beneath, may be simplified utilizing Bixby.
Maintain down the Bixby button and ask your cellphone to “activate the Wi-Fi hotspot” or “change the display screen mode to Vivid” and Bixby will do it. Bixby is aware of Settings higher than any human. That’s a part of the issue. The Galaxy’s Settings are so difficult they should put an AI in cost.
What I need from Settings is as little as attainable
Again to what I need: the least effort attainable. I don’t wish to use Settings, so the extra time I spend with Settings open, the larger the fail.
The commonest Settings on a cellphone ought to be accessible with one swipe. On my iPhone 15, I swipe down from the upper-right nook of the display screen, and I get prompt entry to not simply brightness and Wi-Fi, but in addition I can shortly faucet Do Not Disturb, activate Energy Saving, open my AppleTV distant, and even create a brand new reminder.
On my Samsung Galaxy S24, I swipe down from the highest of the display screen, and I get six Fast Settings buttons, in addition to a litany of notifications. To seek out all of Fast Settings, I have to swipe once more. That is the distinction between Apple and Samsung. Too many duties require an additional step on my Samsung cellphone.
Even the sooner means is slower
Samsung followers are screaming at me, since you actually solely have to swipe as soon as to see all of the Fast Settings buttons, however that’s a Setting you want to allow. The place do you allow this selection? After you swipe down twice, you’ll discover a tiny little ‘customization’ pencil icon. In the event you faucet that icon, you may activate a number of helpful options, like seeing all of the Fast Settings after only one swipe.
You can too arrange a scorching nook to indicate the entire Fast Settings buttons directly, similar to Apple makes use of. In fact, good luck discovering this selection, though it ought to be turned on by default. Good luck discovering any of those choices, actually.
See, these Settings will not be really within the Settings app. Wish to see the Fast Settings buttons with a single swipe? That choice just isn’t anyplace in Settings. It’s solely discovered underneath that tiny pencil menu, the one you discover by swiping down twice. Immediately my Galaxy S24 Extremely feels extra like a quest via Legend of Zelda than a contemporary smartphone.
Placing the Settings to the actual take a look at
As for the Settings app, Apple and Samsung have very completely different philosophies. In your iPhone, ALL of your Settings are within the Settings app. All of them. All of the settings for each app you utilize, in addition to your whole primary cellphone settings, are in the identical place. The Settings listing is subsequently very lengthy, because it consists of each app in your cellphone.
On my Galaxy S24, like all Android telephones, there are Settings in every separate app. That will be superb if Settings have been effectively organized. My Gmail settings are in Gmail and my Fb settings are in Fb, however the entire different settings on my cellphone ought to simply be in Settings. Sadly, this isn’t how Samsung telephones are organized, and it doesn’t seem to be there’s any constant group in any respect.
Typically settings are within the Settings app. Typically they’re hidden underneath unusual little icons, just like the ‘pencil’ instance above. In the event you see an enigmatic set of dots anyplace in your Galaxy cellphone, a cairn of pixels stacked atop one another, that’s in all probability a hidden settings menu.
Worst of all, Samsung’s Settings app is a giant mess. Whereas Apple’s Settings is a really lengthy listing, when you begin digging, there isn’t very far to go. No matter function you wish to discover, you’ll get there in a single or two steps.
To check this, I selected 10 widespread the explanation why I exploit the Settings menu. With out utilizing any superior shortcuts, like a long-press on a Fast Settings button, and with out merely looking for the Settings I wished, I mapped what number of steps it took to perform my Settings targets on the iPhone 15 and the Galaxy S24. The outcomes have been clear.
Operate | iPhone/iOS 17 | Galaxy/OneUI 6.1 | # of steps: iPhone / Galaxy | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
Activate Wi-Fi hotspot | Settings: Private Hotspot: Permit Others to Be a part of | Settings: Connections: Cell Hotspot and Tethering: Cell Hotspot toggle (or faucet textual content for even MORE settings) | 3 / 4 | iCellphone |
Change wallpaper | Settings: Wallpaper | Settings: Wallpaper and magnificence | 2 / 2 | Tie |
Activate energy saving | Settings: Battery: Low Energy Mode | Settings: Machine care: Faucet “Battery”: Energy saving | 3 / 4 | iPhone |
Add a Bluetooth gadget | Settings: Bluetooth | Settings: Connections: Bluetooth: Faucet “Bluetooth” | 2 / 4 | iPhone |
Allow Darkish mode | Settings: Show & Brightness: Choose Darkish | Settings: Show: Darkish | 3 / 3 | Tie |
Release house in storage | Settings: Normal: iPhone Storage: Suggestions; or Type apps | Settings: Machine care: Faucet “Storage”: Evaluation outdated information; “Unused apps;” “Duplicate information;” “Giant information” | 4 / 4 | Tie |
Verify for a System Replace | Settings: Normal: Software program Replace | Settings: Machine care: Software program replace | 3 / 3 | Tie |
Change my lock display screen password | Settings: Face ID & Passcode: Change Passcode | Settings: Lock display screen and AOD: Display lock kind: PIN/Sample/And so forth. | 3 / 4 | iPhone |
Flip off notifications for Tinder | Settings: Notifications: Tinder; Permit Notifications toggle | Settings: Notifications: App notifications: Tinder: Permit notifications toggle | 4 / 5 | Cellphone |
Carry out a manufacturing unit reset | Settings: Normal: Switch or Reset iPhone: Put together for New iPhone / Reset / Erase All Content material and Settings | Settings: Normal administration: Reset: Reset … all settings / cell community settings / Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings / accessibility settings / Manufacturing unit knowledge reset | 4 / 4 | Tie |
The Galaxy cellphone isn’t sooner. For half of those Settings, the iPhone took fewer steps than the Galaxy. For the opposite half, the Settings took the identical variety of steps on every cellphone. Nothing was ever sooner on the Galaxy cellphone.
Samsung can have a sooner processor, extra megapixels, and all of the specification wins that it likes. It isn’t beating Apple if the cellphone isn’t higher to make use of. Right here’s the proof, Samsung, that your telephones are verifiably extra difficult to make use of. Extra steps means slower. It’s time for Samsung to enhance its software program dramatically if it desires to be the very best and the quickest cellphone round.