The One UI 6.1 update brings several AI features to the S23 lineup. However, it also offers a significant improvement in terms of the smoothness of the UI and overall animations.
Earlier, when you closed out of an app, there was a Gaussian Blur effect and then a mild wallpaper motion. With One UI 6.1, Samsung has removed the Gaussian Blur effect in favor of a dramatic wallpaper motion while improving the smoothness and touch response of the app icon when you close it.
There are plenty of similar transitions and animation improvements throughout. Transitions between the app menu and home screen, the animation effects when you open the notification center, and the new control center are smoother and faster. One UI has continuously worked on animations since One UI 5.0, and One UI 6.1 finally makes Samsung phones among the smoothest phones ever.
One UI 7 will improve the animations even further. According to a post from Tony Tech on X, Samsung is already testing some new features for One UI 7 and some new animations. These reports are apparently from Korean sources, and Samsung plans to improve the animations further on One UI 7.
We can assume Samsung will add back Gaussian Blur, which was removed for One UI 6.1. We don’t know why it was removed. Removing it makes the app icon opening and closing animations appear smoother. This is thanks to the much more easily perceptible wallpaper motion effect.
The report also mentions that One UI 7 plans to improve the app’s opening and closing animations. The margin is 30%. That’s a very vague number that doesn’t exactly tell us what to expect. There’s a chance that Samsung will make it faster and improve interruptible (non-linear) animations. You can interrupt the animation in between and switch between multiple apps rapidly. If you switch between apps quickly and view the animations properly, One UI 7 will probably do that.
