5 One UI settings to improve your Samsung experience

I’ve been a Samsung user for years, and one thing I love is the sheer number of options One UI gives you. But for a long time, I was guilty of the same thing as most users: I just used my phone with its factory defaults. I never dove into the settings.

I always figured, “It works fine, why mess with it?”

Then I got frustrated. Why was Bixby always popping up? Why did the animations feel a half-step too slow? Why was I always worried about my battery health?

So, I spent an afternoon digging through every menu, and I found a few small changes that made a massive difference in my daily use. These aren’t super-hidden developer hacks (well, one is sort of), but they are 5 One UI settings to improve your Samsung experience that I genuinely believe every owner should change on day one.

1. Reclaim Your Power Button (aka the “Side Key”)

This is my number one frustration with a new Samsung phone. By default, pressing and holding the side button doesn’t open the power-off menu. Instead, it summons Bixby.

I have nothing against Bixby, but when I want to turn my phone off, I want to turn my phone off. Thankfully, this is an easy fix.

• How to change it:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Scroll down and tap on Advanced features.
  3. Tap on Side button.
  4. Under the “Press and hold” section, change the selection from “Wake Bixby” to “Power off menu”.

Now, when you press and hold the button, you’ll see the familiar options to power off, restart, or go into emergency mode. This simple change makes the phone feel like it’s yours again.

2. Make Your Phone Feel Faster (Reduce Animations)

Does your phone ever feel just a little… sluggish? It’s probably not the processor. It’s the animations. One UI has beautiful, fluid animations for opening apps, closing them, and switching screens. But they take time—just a few milliseconds, but it adds up.

You have two ways to fix this.

The Simple Way:
This option removes most of the motion effects, which makes the phone feel incredibly snappy.

• How to change it:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap on Accessibility.
  3. Tap on Vision enhancements.
  4. Find and toggle on “Reduce animations”.

The “Pro” Way (My Preferred Method):
If you still want animations, just faster, you can enable Developer Options.

1. Go to Settings > About phone > Software information.
2. Tap on “Build number” seven times. You’ll see a small message counting down.
3. Go back to the main Settings menu, and at the very bottom, you’ll see a new Developer options menu.
4. Tap it, scroll way down until you see the “Drawing” section.
5. Change “Window animation scale,” “Transition animation scale,” and “Animator duration scale” from 1x to 0.5x.

The phone will now feel dramatically faster and more responsive.

3. Protect Your Battery for the Long Haul

This isn’t about saving battery life today; it’s about preserving your battery’s health for years.

Most of us charge our phones overnight, pushing them to 100% and keeping them there for hours. This puts stress on the lithium-ion battery and degrades its health over time. One UI has a brilliant feature to combat this.

• How to change it:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap on Battery.
  3. Tap on Battery protection.
  4. Toggle it on.

Here, you have options. “Adaptive” is smart and will try to charge to 100% just before you wake up. But I personally prefer “Maximum,” which stops the charge at 80%. Since I’m near a charger most days, 80% is more than enough, and it’s the best thing you can do for your battery’s long-term lifespan.

4. Activate the Underrated “Edge Panels”

This is probably the single most powerful One UI feature that most people ignore. Edge panels are a hidden shortcut menu you can access by swiping from the side of your screen, no matter what app you’re in.

I use mine constantly. It’s where I keep my calculator, my to-do list, my bank app, and shortcuts to my favorite contacts. It’s a true multitasking powerhouse.

• How to change it:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap on Display.
  3. Scroll down and tap on Edge panels.
  4. Toggle it on.
  5. Tap on “Panels” to choose what you want to see. I highly recommend the “Apps” and “People” panels to start.

It might take a day to get used to, but once you build the muscle memory, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.

5. Turn On “Auto Blocker” for Security

This is a newer feature, and it’s fantastic for peace of mind. “Auto Blocker” is a security setting that, in its simplest form, prevents your phone from installing apps from unverified sources (a process called “sideloading”).

While some enthusiasts like to sideload apps, for most people, it’s the number one way that malware and spyware get onto a phone. Turning this on essentially locks your phone down to only allow apps from the Google Play Store and Samsung’s Galaxy Store, which are vetted for safety.

• How to change it:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap on Security and privacy.
  3. Tap on Auto Blocker.
  4. Toggle it on.

It also has other benefits, like blocking malicious commands sent via USB and checking for malware in your existing apps. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it feature that makes your phone significantly safer.

Making It Your Own

Your phone is the device you use most, so it’s worth taking 10 minutes to make it work for you, not against you.

These are just my top 5, but there are dozens of other One UI settings to improve your Samsung experience. I highly recommend exploring the “Modes and Routines” feature next, or checking out what other tech experts recommend. This ZDNET guide on Samsung settings is a great place to find even more tweaks.

What are your must-change settings? Let me know.