Reasons why Samsung Galaxy software lags far behind iPhone

The article is the personal opinion of technology reviewer Philip Berne at Tech Radar.

The thing I hate most about smartphones is Settings. Organizing the Settings menu is a very difficult job for manufacturers, and today's phones prove it. Even the best phones have terrible Settings.

But that's why I want to make Settings the center of my argument to explain why Samsung's OneUI software is so bad and why Apple's iOS is better. Prepare yourself, because no matter where Settings is bad, it will be especially bad on Samsung phones.

Reasons why Samsung Galaxy software lags far behind iPhone Picture 1

What's the best I can expect from the Settings menu? It's nothing. Tell the truth. I hope I never have to use Settings. On an ideal smartphone, Settings would be non-existent. The AI ​​revolution on smartphones is leading to this stage. Finally, AI will manage Settings. You will tell the AI ​​what you need and it will adjust itself.

To that end, Samsung may have the best Settings section on any smartphone. Bixby, Samsung's much-maligned digital assistant, is built to manage Settings. Most of what you want to do with your Galaxy, and what I'll complain about below, can be simplified with Bixby.

Hold down the Bixby button and tell your phone to 'turn on Wi-Fi hotspot' or 'change screen mode to Vivid' and Bixby will do it. Bixby knows Settings better than any human. That's part of the problem: Galaxy's settings are so complex that there needs to be an AI in charge.

Installation should be minimal

Back to my original argument: The simpler and less time-consuming the installation, the better.

The most common Settings on your phone should be available with just a swipe. On the iPhone 15, I swiped down from the top right corner of the screen and was able to immediately access not only screen brightness and Wi-Fi, but also quickly tap Do Not Disturb, activate Power Saver, Open Apple TV remotely or even create new reminders.

On the Samsung Galaxy S24, I swiped down from the top of the screen and I saw six Quick Settings buttons as well as a bunch of notifications. To find all the Quick Settings, I need to swipe again. That's the difference between Apple and Samsung. Too many tasks require extra steps on Samsung phones.

Samsung fans will scream at me for actually just swiping once to see all the Quick Settings buttons, but that's an option you need to enable manually. Where must this option be enabled? After swiping down twice, you will see a small 'Custom' pencil icon. If you tap that icon, you can activate some useful features, like seeing all your Quick Settings in just 1 swipe.

You can also set up a hot corner to show all the Quick Settings at once, like Apple uses. Of course, good luck finding this option, even though it should be enabled by default. In fact, good luck finding any of these options.

Think about it, those options aren't actually in the Settings app. Want to see Quick Settings buttons with just 1 swipe? That option isn't available anywhere in Settings. It's only found in the little pencil menu I mentioned above, which is only found by swiping down twice. Suddenly, my Galaxy S24 Ultra felt more like navigating a maze than a modern smartphone.

The interface (UI) should be consistent

When it comes to the Settings app, Apple and Samsung have very different philosophies. On iPhone, all of your Settings are in the Settings app. All the settings for every app you use, as well as all your phone's basic settings, are in one place. Therefore, the Settings list is very long because it includes every app on your phone.

On the Galaxy S24, like all Android phones, there are Settings within each separate app. It's okay if Settings is well organized. My Gmail settings are in Gmail and my Facebook settings are in Facebook, but all other settings on my phone should be in the Settings app. Sadly, this is not how Samsung phones are organized and there doesn't seem to be any consistent arrangement at all.

Sometimes the setting is in the Settings app. Sometimes they're hidden under strange little icons, like the 'pencil' example above. If you see a set of mysterious dots anywhere on your Galaxy, a series of stacked pixels, it could be a hidden settings menu.

Worst of all, Samsung's Settings app is a big mess. While Apple's Settings app is a very long list, once you start learning it, it's very easy to get used to. Whatever feature you want to find, you'll get there in a step or two.

To test this, I chose 10 common reasons why I use the Settings menu. Don't use any advanced shortcuts, such as pressing and holding the Quick Settings button, and don't just search for the Settings I want, I've mapped the number of steps it takes to complete my Settings goal. me on iPhone 15 and Galaxy S24. The results were clear.

Galaxy is never faster than its opponents. For half of these Settings, iPhone performed fewer steps than Galaxy. For the other half, Settings performs the same number of steps on each phone. There's nothing faster on a Galaxy phone.

Samsung probably has a faster processor, more megapixels, and all the winning specs in their favor. But you can't beat Apple if it doesn't feel better in use. This is evidence that Samsung phones are more complicated to use. More steps means slower. It's time for Samsung to significantly improve its software if it wants to own the best and fastest phone today.

Marvin Fry

Update 22 April 2024