Samsung’s upcoming One UI 9 update is shaping up to be a massive win for personalization enthusiasts. For years, the Good Lock suite has been the ultimate playground for tailoring the Galaxy experience, but a major overhaul is coming to one of its most popular components: the Home Up module.
Early previews of the software reveal two massive quality-of-life upgrades that give power users significantly more control over how their home screen looks and behaves. Check out the comprehensive breakdown of these features below, and for more updates, leaks, and eligible device lists, you can read NokiaPowerUser’s dedicated coverage.
1. Redesigning the App Dock from Scratch
The bottom app tray—traditionally known as the “Favorites” dock—has always been a rigid, unchangeable part of the user interface. One UI 9 completely shatters that restriction, allowing you to break away from stock configurations so your dock perfectly matches your wallpaper or custom theme.
Instead of a basic transparent strip, Home Up introduces an absolute laundry list of visual adjustments:
Layered Visual Effects: Easily toggle on custom depth blur filters, adjustable opacity (alpha), and drop shadow effects.
Custom Shapes & Sizes: Fine-tune the corner radius and adjust both horizontal and vertical padding.
Aesthetic Styling: Choose from solid colors, gradients, or even upload a completely custom background image.
Built-in Design Themes: For a quick setup, Samsung includes pre-set style themes with names like Mint Flow, Metal, Blush Flow, and Pastel Brush.
Independent Grid Scaling: You can alter the total number of apps allowed in the tray, keeping your dock layout entirely independent from your main home screen grid size.
2. Multi-Finger Gestures for Absolute Control
The second headline feature focuses entirely on navigation efficiency. Samsung is introducing a multi-finger gesture control layout that is arguably the most comprehensive system seen on a stock launcher.
The interface supports simultaneous inputs using two, three, four, or even five fingers at once, accommodating dozens of distinct gesture combinations.
| Gesture Types Available | Supported Action Triggers |
• Directional Swipes (Up, Down, Left, Right)
• Single Taps & Double Taps
• Pinches (In and Out)
• Long Presses | • Taking a screenshot
• Adjusting system volume or brightness
• Pulling up a search window or Quick Panel
• Launching favorite app shortcuts |
The Screenshot Upgrade: One of the most highly anticipated setups is mapping a three-finger downward swipe to take a screenshot. This is a massive win for users migrating from other Android brands where this is the norm, offering a much smoother alternative to Samsung’s traditional physical buttons or palm-swipe method.
To ensure these shortcuts don’t get in your way, you can customize the swipe distance to adjust gesture sensitivity, add haptic vibration feedback, and even exclude specific apps (like mobile games or the phone keypad) where you don’t want the gestures to trigger.
Availability and Rollout
This major Home Up module update is designed specifically to complement the Android 17-based One UI 9 ecosystem. The software is expected to make its stable debut alongside Samsung’s latest foldables at the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, with beta testing already actively underway on the Galaxy S26 series.
Once the stable version rolls out, you will be able to grab the update directly through the Galaxy Store or access the settings directly by long-pressing your home screen and navigating to Settings → More customisations.
