TouchWiz, Samsung’s infamous Android skin, might be getting replaced, if a new leaked screenshot from @evleaks on Twitter is anything to go by.
Yesterday, with the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy TabPRO and Galaxy NotePRO at CES 2014, Samsung also showed off a new UI for the tablet, called the ‘Magazine’ UI. With a slight resemblance to Microsoft’s Live Tile UI, the new look was more clean and modular than previous TouchWiz versions, while also being a fresh take on the tablet homescreen.
Now Samsung appears to be about to extending these changes to their Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phone lineup. But in a more traditional Samsung move, the UI looks a bit more borrowed than hoped for.
The lockscreen is obviously, and intentionally, made to resemble the iOS 7 lockscreen, with a centered clock up top, with a thin font and large typeface, and the text ‘swipe screen to unlock’ center aligned at the bottom. However there is also a widget on the lockscreen that seems to relate to a bike ride the user has tracked, with a map graphic, and the miles and BPM of the ride. In fact, it looks like the phone will take part in the challenge of not just accepting data, but displaying it, with the Magazine-UI referring to an image-rich UI, as well as a Facebook-like feed of activities on the phone.
It’s a fresh look, even if some UI elements could be borrowed, and has the fresh thinking that Samsung has started to own in the Android sector. Hopefully we see this announced soon, since, to me, it looks beautiful.