One of the main headlining features of One UI 7.0 is the Now Bar, which shows ongoing activities on your device, like timers or sports scores. But this was limited to a handful of apps, mainly Samsung ones but also a couple of Google features. With One UI 8.0, the ongoing activities in Now Bar seems to be getting a huge upgrade.
More apps will take advantage of the ongoing activities in Now Bar starting with One UI 8.0
Someone spotted that the Now Bar can now take advantage of Android 16’s Live Notifications API. This is a new feature coming to AOSP, as spotted by the folks over at Android Authority, which lets developers implement progress centric notifications, with a bar and supporting titles and text to show relevant info, like the progress of your food order.
Samsung is adopting this new Android feature, as proven with Android 16’s updated easter egg. This is running on a Galaxy Z Flip 6 running a leaked build of One UI 8.0, courtesy of X user @Gamer0mega. It appears on the lock screen, both minimised and expanded, in the status bar, and on the Flip’s cover screen.
Samsung’s One UI 8 merges now bar with Android’s live notification system pic.twitter.com/lW2OLeYBta
— Gamer Omega (@Gamer0mega) May 2, 2025
This is a huge development for the concept of Live Notifications, and can be much more useful once developers adopt the API. Think ride sharing apps like Uber, package delivery through Amazon, download and upload progress through Chrome, etc.
One UI 8.0 is shaping up to be a more iterative update, especially for the Now Bar. But also for many other areas of the operating system. Many apps, such as Internet, Quick Share and Weather will receive major facelifts. Different form factors, like Flips and Folds, will get further optimisations. And animations should get some extra maintenance, too. It is expected to roll out alongside the new Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7, then hit the S25 series shortly after.
