5 Popular Apps That Should Follow One UI

When was the last time you used a 4-inch phone? Now your thumbs can’t reach the top of the phone and most developers are focused on usability. Samsung’s One UI has one of the best design philosophies on the market, focusing on comfortable, intuitive one-handed use, but not all apps are following suit.

One UI’s focus on bottom navigation and a clean interface was a game changer when it was introduced in 2018, and in 2024 it’s time for these five big apps to join it. Don’t take our word for it: if you haven’t used these apps in a while, check out how outdated and cluttered they are now.

1 Facebook

What is this, 2016?

Facebook has a bad reputation, but you can’t ignore the fact that more than 2 billion people use it every day, including about 75% of the U.S. population. While the iOS version has flashy updates and a slick design language, the Android app looks stuck in 2016 with a top-heavy, cluttered navigation bar and a cluttered interface.

Android has a huge user base in the US as well, so Meta needs to prioritize the app and provide Android users with the same experience as iPhone users. It’s time to bring the app into the 2020s with bottom navigation, a clean interface, and easy-to-read fonts.

2 Tasker

Like an old, reliable Buick.

Tasker is getting old. It’s certainly powerful and one of the best automation tools for Android, but it might need a glossy coat of paint inspired by One UI. Portuguese developer Joao Dias polished it up a bit when he took over the app in 2018, but it’s still the same Tasker built for Palm OS way back when.

The reach required to access menus and perform automations is frustrating and essentially requires two-handed operation. Constantly switching between tasks and profiles also becomes a physical chore after a while. We live in the age of one-handed operation. Tasker should take a leaf out of One UI’s book in the UX department and move important navigation elements to the bottom of the screen.

3 Google Chrome

Google finally modernizes its browser

Ironically, while Chrome doesn’t have modern bottom navigation on Google’s own platform, it does on the iPhone, and nearly every other Google app on Android has bottom navigation.

And, sure, Google recently announced that you can activate Android’s bottom navigation using a flag, but it’s not a method the average phone user is familiar with.

This is even more puzzling considering Google’s Material You guidelines emphasize the need for bottom navigation — Chrome requires search, tabs, and bookmarks to be at the bottom of the screen — so if Google can’t follow its own design philosophy, maybe it could take inspiration from One UI.

Four Google Files

The curious case of the forgotten app

File management is one of the standout features of the Android operating system, putting it ahead of its fruit-based competitors, and the My Files app on Samsung devices is a perfect blend of functionality and the One UI design philosophy.

The app is clean, easy to use, and extremely powerful, but you’ll need a Samsung device to use it – if you have a Pixel, you’re stuck with Google Files, a vestige of the Material Design era.

The only good thing about Google Files is the cartoonish floating “scanner” button at the bottom of the screen, but that’s it: everything else is hidden behind a tiny hamburger menu at the top left of the screen, which opens a side menu in tiny font, as if it’s been ported over from the desktop Web app.

Google has neglected one of the core features of Android and people have put up with it for a long time. It’s time to move all the navigation to the bottom, make the font bigger, and improve the usability of the menus.

Five AliExpress

It’s like the app has taken LSD.

AliExpress is a perfect example of an app that seems to have been built without any design planning at all. The 50th most popular app on the Play Store is crammed with bottom and top toolbars, spinning animations, blinking lights, rotating images, and dozens of tiny icons vying for your attention. Honestly, it’s a little hard to believe.

That said, AliExpress’ sensory overload feels more like a carnival than an app, and as fun as it may sound, the app could do with a leaf out of One UI. First, the icons and fonts need to be bigger. For people with larger hands, it’s nearly impossible to tap the right icon on the first try, and for anyone with eyes over 20, it’s hard to read anything.

Also, put the search bar at the bottom and move the deals button somewhere else. Cramming two different toolbars into one app, while unique, is a bit much.

One UI should be the guiding light

We use our phones a lot, and for many of us, it feels like a struggle every time we open an app. Apps need to be easy to use with one hand, and even quicker to access.

One UI’s bottom navigation, clean, minimalist backgrounds, and large, easy-to-read fonts transform Samsung apps into functional tools, and even just using facial gestures to control them feels a lot better than what’s available today.

To be fair, many third-party apps improve the user experience, but Facebook, Tasker, Chrome, and Files are clearly lagging behind. Plus AliExpress seems to be openly mocking the entire One UI design philosophy. There’s no point or reason to this wild carnival, but we respect it to a certain extent.