Samsung Expands the Capabilities of Its Dynamic Island-Like Now Bar

Samsung is introducing a new Now Bar feature in One UI 7, providing users with quick access to real-time information directly from the lock screen. The feature is similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island but currently supports only select Samsung apps and some music services.

Now Bar is currently being tested in South Korea with local apps. For instance, the ride-hailing service Kakao T displays estimated arrival times and trip durations—similar to how Uber works with Dynamic Island on iPhones. Additionally, Samsung plans to integrate Google Maps and South Korea’s top search engine Naver, enabling real-time sports score updates for soccer, basketball, baseball, and volleyball.

Samsung is also optimizing 11 local apps for Now Bar, and with the Cross App Action feature, virtual assistants Bixby and Gemini will be able to execute multiple functions across different apps with a single voice command.

Now Bar comes pre-installed on the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy A56, and it will also be available on older Galaxy models receiving the One UI 7 update.