Hidden Gems in Samsung’s Good Lock: Features That Deserve a Spot in One UI
Samsung’s One UI is packed with features, but for even more customization, you’ll need to explore the Good Lock suite of apps. Good Lock offers a collection of apps that add extra settings and capabilities to your Samsung Galaxy phone, extending beyond the built-in One UI functionality. While some features are hidden away in these specialized apps, some deserve to be integrated directly into One UI for easier access and improved user experience. Let’s explore some of these hidden treasures.
Individual App Volumes: A Simple Yet Powerful Feature
Many users appreciate the ability to control individual app volumes. This allows you to adjust the audio output for each app independently. While some Android manufacturers include this directly in their custom skins, Samsung requires you to download the Sound Assistant app from the Good Lock suite. Although Samsung’s approach has the advantage of adjusting the volume through a list without opening each app, it’s functionality that could effortlessly become a standard One UI feature. This is particularly helpful for those who primarily use specific apps for audio and prefer to silence others. It’s a small change that would significantly enhance user convenience.
Quick Tap Shutter: Say Goodbye to Shutter Lag
Recent Galaxy Ultra phones have faced criticism for noticeable shutter lag when taking photos. The delay between pressing the shutter button and the actual photo capture can be frustrating. Luckily, Samsung offers a solution: the Quick Tap Shutter toggle within the Camera Assistant app. This feature mitigates shutter lag by capturing the photo immediately upon pressing the button, rather than when you release it. This is particularly beneficial when photographing fast-moving subjects like children or pets, preventing missed moments. Integrating this directly into the camera settings would be a welcome upgrade, eliminating the need to navigate separate apps.
Show/Hide Status Bar Icons: Reclaiming Control Over Your Notifications
QuickStar, another Good Lock app, allows you to tailor your Quick Settings panel and more significantly, customize which status bar icons are displayed. This offers the ability to hide icons for alarms, sound profiles, location, VPN and even cellular signal, Wi-Fi, and NFC. Some users prefer a cleaner status bar, prioritizing only essential information. The option to choose which icons are shown or hidden enhances customisation and provides a superior user experience. This level of granular control was available in older versions of Android and deserves a reboot in One UI.
Turn Off Delete Accelerator in Samsung Keyboard: A Tailored Typing Experience
The Keys Cafe app within the Good Lock suite allows extensive keyboard customization, affecting animations, themes, sounds, and more. A particularly useful feature is the ability to disable the delete accelerator, which speeds up deletion the longer you hold down the backspace key. While the accelerator is convenient for some, others prefer a consistent deletion speed, reducing the risk of accidental errors when quickly correcting longer passages of text. Having the option to turn off this accelerator directly within the Samsung keyboard settings would provide a personalized typing experience for more users.
One Hand Operation Plus: Effortless Navigation on Larger Screens
Modern smartphones are generally large, and reaching top corners or notification bars with one hand is not always easy. The One Hand Operation+ app from Good Lock proposes a solution to this everyday struggle. It allows customizing a gesture-based navigation system. This system utilises the standard back gesture swipe from the edges of the screen, and expands upon this with diagonal swipes which can be tailored to various actions such as opening the recent apps menu, going home or toggling the flashlight. This intuitive method makes one-handed operation far smoother and more convenient. Integrating this into the core settings of One UI would provide an excellent alternative navigation system for all users of larger Samsung phones.
Icon Theming: Enhanced Visual Customization
Samsung, like other Android manufacturers, allows users to change their icon packs via themes. However, the ability to customize the shape and color of the default icons is missing from One UI. To achieve this, you need to download the Theme Park app from Good Lock. Adding this to One UI’s existing theme and background customization would result in greater variety and control for users. Additionally, the current restrictions on compatible icon packs (limited to the Galaxy Store) within One UI could also be relaxed, allowing for a wider range of options.
Task Changer Layouts: Personalizing Your Multitasking Experience
The Home Up app, part of Good Lock, provides not only enhancements for your home screen but also grants full customization of the recent apps/task changer menu. This customization includes a selection of different layout styles and the option to show or hide app labels and the search bar. The ability to personalize these task-changer styles directly, similar to what is provided by competitor operating systems, would enhance aesthetic appeal and improve user experience within this core function of the device.
Ultimately, these features demonstrate that small enhancements found within the Good Lock ecosystem could greatly benefit the user experience within One UI itself. They illustrate that even within a comprehensive operating system like One UI, there is potential for improvement by integrating what could be considered essential add-ons and preferences for increased functionality and user agency.
