One UI 8.5 will give Now Bar a function it should’ve had a while ago

Now Bar, a widget that gives you quick access to live information and app controls on your lockscreen, was introduced in One UI 7. Since its debut, Samsung has added to its capabilities, like showing win probabilities of sports matches and support for Commute from Google. It appears that One UI 8.5 will make Now Bar even more useful.

If you have a Galaxy device, you’ll find the Now Bar feature at the bottom of your lockscreen. This toolbar will show you live updates from compatible apps, such as timers, media playback, and more. It can also serve you with relevant information you want to know, like weather updates, upcoming events, and so on, through what Samsung calls Now Brief.

While Samsung has not released the stable version of One UI 8.5 yet, it has let Galaxy owners in on the beta for the Android 16 skin. Spotted by tipster Tarun Vats, the beta appears to introduce missed call notifications to Now Brief. This means Now Bar will let you know if a call came through while you were away.

Samsung is expected to continue expanding Now Bar’s capabilities with future updates. However, we’ll have to wait and see what other capabilities the tech giant gives the feature.