Android phone makers have been giving Google’s operating custom skins for years, ostensibly to give users a custom set of features, but also to help set their phones apart from the competition. Now Samsung plans to do the same thing with its Windows PCs.

The company’s One UI software is making the leap from phones to PCs, bringing Samsung apps, icons, and other features to Samsung’s Windows laptops.

Samsung made the announcement in the tail end of a video introducing the new One UI 4 user interface coming to Samsung Galaxy smartphones. The notebook version will be called One UI Book 4, and among other things, it will bring:

  • Samsung Settings app for controlling Windows system settings including WiFi & Bluetooth, sound, battery, and display features
  • Samsung Notes app with the folders, icons, and menus inspired by the mobile version
  • Samsung Gallery app for photos and videos

The software is coming to Samsung laptops including the Samsung Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, Galaxy Book Flex 2, and Galaxy Book Odyssey.

While Windows isn’t as open to customization as Android, it seems like Samsung’s approach will involve offering alternatives to core Windows apps and features… but not necessarily replacements. For example, it seems like the Samsung Settings app will offer a way to control your PC with a user interface that should be familiar to anyone who’s used a Samsung phone… but I suspect you’ll also still be able to open the Windows Setting app to do the same things.

All of which is to say that while Samsung is giving its custom apps for Windows PCs a name, it’s unclear how different One UI Book 4 will be from the custom apps (bloatware) that often comes pre-installed on laptops and desktops from other Windows PC makers. But maybe it makes more sense for a company that’s probably better known for its smartphones than its laptops.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

5 replies on “Samsung’s One UI is coming to Windows laptops”

  1. So, if I buy a Samsung laptop, I need to reimage it from the start. OK. Thanks for the heads up. 🙂

    1. Or be glad you do not have to use half-baked Windows 11 UI 😀
      Depends what will be worse/better in the end.

  2. Reading the title I was expecting an android-like desktop/launcher with the DeX taskbar, and whatever touch gestures samsung has come up with. But that’s not what’s happening.
    I’d welcome it if it was, because that would mean someone else could actually replace windows 11’s tedious UI for the desktop.

Comments are closed.