As Samsung's very own take on Android 9.0 Pie, the newly-dubbed One UI (formerly Samsung Experience, and TouchWiz before that) comes with a slew of new features and redesigned elements for the Galaxy's interface. Many of the changes, like the redesigned native app icons, are readily apparent, but other features got subtle enhancements that greatly improve user friendliness.
The Galaxy's Edge Lighting effects is one such feature that didn't get a major revamp with Android Pie. Instead, Samsung improved upon it by basically streamlining its settings and adding more options, which translates to enhanced accessibility overall.
Before One UI, Edge Lighting was pretty limited in terms of accessing notifications. Though you could set it to leave quick replies to phone calls and messages using your phone's heart rate sensor, there wasn't much else you could do as far as interacting with the Edge Lighting notifications on your screen. With Android Pie, you can now act on Edge Lighting notifications through a series of gestures.
There's now an option to enable "Edge Lighting interaction" that gives you the ability to access and view alerts like text messages, phone calls, and more straight from the feature. It's also worth noting that "Quick reply" has been moved from the three-dot menu page from Oreo to the feature's main settings page to make things a lot less confusing.
Updated Edge Lighting settings on Android Pie/One UI.
Edge Lighting settings on Android Oreo.
Updated Edge Lighting settings on Android Pie/One UI.
Edge Lighting settings on Android Oreo.
As seen from the screenshots below, interacting with Edge Lighting alerts consist of a series of gestures. These gestures include tapping on the notification to go directly to the app, performing a sideways swipe gesture on the alert to quickly dismiss it, and doing a downward swipe from the notification to open the app as a popup window for multitasking.
The most annoying aspect of Edge Lighting was how short the alert was, which made it incredibly easy to miss. Thankfully, Samsung has remedied this with One UI, and along with the familiar options for lighting effects, colors, transparency, and width, you now have the ability to adjust the feature's duration to ensure you never miss an Edge Lighting alert again.
Overall, the updated Edge Lighting feature will make it a lot more appealing to use, largely due to the practical enhancements highlighted above. And with One UI officially out in the wild, we'll be on the lookout for more Android Pie features that's touched down on Galaxy devices, so be sure to check back often for updates. As always, post your comments below and share your thoughts.
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Cover image and screenshots by Amboy Manalo/Gadget Hacks
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