One UI 8 Watch beta completely overhauls tiles on Galaxy Watch
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The One UI 8 Watch beta has released, and it brings new tile shapes.
- Many apps also support smaller tiles which can be stacked in pairs on a single screen.
- Most of these newly shaped tiles belong to Samsung apps, while other developers, including Google, continue to have circular ones.
The Galaxy Watch 8 series has already leaked ahead of its expected arrival, and it has a divisive design change. But with changes to its hardware, Samsung is also planning changes to the interface that runs on the Galaxy Watch. With the freshly released One UI 8 Watch beta for the Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung has brought a major shift to the interface that includes a new set of tiles.
Unlike circular ones in the previous versions of One UI Watch, the latest beta brings tiles shaped like rectangles with rounded corners (aka stadium shape). The change aligns with the rumored shift towards a squircle dial for the upcoming Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic.
Confirming previous leaks, the One UI 8 Watch beta also adds support for two tiles on a single page. In such an arrangement, two slimmer pill-shaped tiles can be added to a single screen.
A tipster, who goes by the alias “That Josh Guy,” shared a slew of videos highlighting the change in a Telegram group. The tipster also shows certain tiles with a scrollable interface, suggesting we might be able to add more than two tiles, though we couldn’t confirm the change ourselves.
As demonstrated in the videos, the majority of the newly shaped tiles can be used in both sizes. However, the new shapes seemingly only apply to Samsung apps, while those by other developers, including Google, are still circular. It remains to be seen whether Samsung takes a gentler approach or forces third parties to adopt these design tweaks.
Along with this, One UI 8 Watch will display “Featured apps” at the top of the app drawer, based on your usage.
