topic Re: One UI 9/9.5 in Mobile Apps & Services

One UI 9/9.5

Aaron02 — Sun, 10 May 2026 10:13:05 GMT

Having had the chance to use a pixel for the past 2 weeks, some of the shortcomings of one UI have been laid bare.

I have therefore came up with some suggestions that would help improve user experience for One UI 9/9.5

1. Haptics - massively lacking compared to pixelOS. Everywhere you touch on a pixel has satisfying haptic feedback which makes the OS appear more interactive.

2. Animations - one UI is incredibly rigid, and needs to incorporate more fluid animations, with more physics. Even the notification animations when swiping them away appear much better on pixel. Opening the camera with the side button has no animation. The lockscreen shortcuts appear to be using the same animations from One UI 6.

3. Inconsistencies - one UI doesn't appear to have a clear design language, more a general idea of what to put in. On Pixel, everything appears uniform, with more attention to detail. On one UI, blur is inconsistent, and there isn't really a unifying theme. Another suggestion I have seen is utilising neomorphism to provide a unique design philosophy, like apple does with liquid glass.

The UI has come so far since One UI 6 but it still feels outdated compared to others. Lets hope one UI 9/9.5 brings much needed updates.

Re: One UI 9/9.5

AndrewL — Sun, 10 May 2026 10:47:31 GMT

@Aaron02: Thank you for your feedback. Regarding your first suggestion, please note that you can customise the amount of haptic feedback by heading to Settings > Sounds and vibration > System vibration > Toggle on/off the available categories to your preference. In your case, make sure that 'Touch interactions' is toggled on.

I'm not too sure what you mean when you say that the animations are 'rigid' in One UI 8.5, as I have always found swiping notifications to be fluid and responsive. Similarly, the Camera app should have a swift opening animation when double tapping the Side button. If you head to Settings > Accessibility > Vision enhancements, is 'Reduce animations' toggled on? If so, toggle this option off for an improved experience.

Re: Re: One UI 9/9.5

Aaron02 — Sun, 10 May 2026 11:38:12 GMT

I mean compare the animations to pixelOS or ColorOS (although colorOS is a blatant rip off of iOS), the animations are very simplistic on One UI. They are generally rigid and do not exhibit the same fluidity of its competitors. The example of the notification panel - on PixelOS it exhibits the same 'pulling' animation on the surrounding notifications, however once they have been removed the surrounding notifications will show a rebound animation that makes the whole process seem more fluid. This is just one example. On colorOS, the nowbar rip off is much more animated and fluid when cycling between functions, and when enlarging the now bar on the lockscreen.
These are small details, and you could argue that this is paying too much attention to the animations, but its the attention to detail in the OS design that is lacking compared to other companies.

Re: One UI 9/9.5

AndrewL — Sun, 10 May 2026 11:53:31 GMT

@Aaron02: One UI is a custom interface built on top of the Android operating system, which is the OS used on Google Pixel phones. While there may be some slight differences in the animation styles, a decision may have been made to simplify certain animations such as those described above. I absolutely appreciate that you may prefer one style over the other, but in terms of 'fluidity' the animations in One UI are responsive and seamless in my experience, moving smoothly and reacting to swipe gestures as expected.

Re: One UI 9/9.5

Tourbillon De La Vie — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:11 GMT

What Samsung phone(s) are you comparing to

Re: Re: One UI 9/9.5

Aaron02 — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:54 GMT

I'm not debating its responsiveness, and in fact, I think Samsung has delivered a very stable and smooth software experience. The issues arise with the lack of detail to animations themselves, which I think should be a key area to focus on in future updates.

Re: Re: One UI 9/9.5

Aaron02 — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:02:29 GMT

I am currently using the Z fold 7, having came from the S25 ultra.