As an iPhone user for the past seven years, I recently had the chance to spend a few weeks with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The experience left me with serious FOMO, thanks to the brilliant gestures in OneUI 6.1 that make multitasking a breeze.
With each new gesture I tried, I couldn’t help but think, “Why isn’t this on iPhone?” These gestures would be game-changers for Apple’s flagship phone.
Here are some of my favorite features from OneUI 6.1 that I’d love to see in iOS 18 on the next iPhone.
1. Split Screen
This is easily my favorite feature. Samsung’s OneUI 6.1 allows for seamless multitasking by enabling you to split the screen and handle two different tasks simultaneously. While not unique to Samsung, the seamlessness is unmatched.
To use it, open an app and swipe up with two fingers to select your second app. You can resize the windows and swap their positions. Even better, you can save specific multitasking combinations and place them on your home screen, like YouTube and your favorite drawing app or Khan Academy and Google Docs.
2. Pop-up View
Pop-up view lets you convert any app into a small window that you can move around the screen. This is perfect for keeping an eye on an app without opening it fully in multi-view.
You can resize the pop-up, move it around, and minimize it to a hovering icon. You can even adjust its opacity using a slider. This feature highlighted how far behind the iPhone is in facilitating multitasking, considering only some video apps on iOS support pop-up viewing.
3. Swipe to Capture
Swipe to capture allows you to take a screenshot by swiping your palm across the screen. OneUI is flexible about the swipe’s speed, pressure, or direction—just swipe across at least 50% of the display.
The screen responds with a dramatic effect, showing your screenshot in the bottom left for a second. You can then tap it and choose an app like Gallery or Google Photos to view it.
In contrast, the iPhone’s double-tap-the-back feature for screenshots is less reliable. It often misses taps and leads to accidental screenshots. I find using a customized shortcut on Assistive Touch for screenshotting on my iPhone much more reliable.
4. Mute with Gestures
This gesture allows you to mute incoming calls and alarms by placing your hand over the screen or turning your phone face down. While I might avoid the former to prevent accidental taps, the latter is very useful. On an iPhone, you can mute calls and alarms by pressing the power button once.
5. Double Tap to Turn the Screen Off
Double-tapping an empty space on the home or lock screen turns the screen off, saving you from reaching for the power button each time. While iPhones allow tapping the screen to wake it, they don’t offer the same convenience for turning it off.
6. Double Press Side Button
Samsung’s side button is fully customizable. You can go into Settings and choose what app to launch when you double-press it. I set mine to open the Gallery, which saved me a lot of time navigating from the home screen.
7. One-Handed Mode
This feature is excellent for reachability and could greatly benefit users with accessibility needs. Double-tapping the Home button minimizes the entire display. While the iPhone has a reachability feature, it only brings the app to the bottom of the screen, cropping half of the content. Samsung’s version shows everything on the display and lets you place the minimized window anywhere on the screen.
These gestures from Samsung’s OneUI 6.1 truly enhance multitasking and usability. Integrating them into iOS would significantly improve the iPhone experience.
