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Here's how to remove the Samsung UI from your smartphone

AndroidPIT samsung galaxy s10 front2 g3qt
© nextpit

Android is an open source system. That means that third-party manufacturers can pretty much do whatever they want with it. An example of this is Samsung’s customized UI layer, One UI (formerly Samsung Experience and before that TouchWiz), which often finds itself the subject of heated debates - not everyone is a fan. If you want to remove the UI from your phone, we have several different solutions to help you out, whether you're the average user or an Android expert.

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What is TouchWiz/Grace UX/Samsung Experience/One UI?

All Samsung smartphones come with Samsung's unique interface, whether it be TouchWiz, Samsung Experience, Grace UI, or the new One UI. Starting with the recalled Galaxy Note 7, a new interface design called Grace UX was introduced, although it has been through several name changes. With the Korean manufacturer's device update to Android Nougat, this new design was expanded. The interface has changed a bit along the way, which is what we can see on devices such as the Galaxy S8. The Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, S10e, on the other hand, are shipped with the latest version of Samsung's user interface - One UI.

However, not everyone likes this new user experience. If you have a Samsung smartphone but you’re just not feeling the interface, we can give you a hand with changing it.

Disable Samsung apps (non-root)

Obviously, this won’t completely erase the Samsung UI from your device, but it will get rid of those annoying updates that the pre-installed apps (bloatware) constantly ask for and which continuously eat up your internal memory. We can get rid of the notifications and the apps that Samsung pre-installs.

You can begin by getting rid of the shortcut and widget, but to actually stop the app, you'll need to go to Settings > Applications > Application manager, look for the offending app and select it.

Get rid of Touchwiz Setup 1
Disable annoying apps on your Samsung smartphone. / © NextPit

Once you’re in the app information:

  • Deselect the option Show notifications
  • Erase the cache
  • Erase data
  • Lastly, tap on Disable.

This way, the app will stay in a kind of hibernation mode, it won’t update, and it will only take up the initial space it came with. If you want to turn it back on, all you need to do is go to the application manager again and under ‘disabled’, you’ll see all the apps you’ve turned off.

Install a different launcher so you don’t have to look at the Samsung UI

This is the most drastic change you can make without rooting your phone. If the icons or the high-contrast background of TouchWiz aren't to your liking, you can always modify the look to make your Android experience a bit more bearable.

With a customized launcher, you can change the appearance of the desktop and icons. It simply requires you going to the Google Play Store and downloading one of the many available launchers. The most popular ones are Nova, Apex, and Microsoft Launcher. You can find a selection of the best launchers here.

Get rid of Touchwiz Setup 2
Set the new launcher as the default on your Samsung device. / © NextPit

Head to the Google Play Store and install whichever you like most. The first time you open it, it will ask you which launcher you’d like to use. Choose the launcher you just installed and click on ‘always.' If for some reason you want to go back to TouchWiz, you can change this in Settings > Default Apps > Home screen, choose your launcher and click on the home button.

Erase TouchWiz/One UI: root and install an AOSP ROM

If you want to completely remove Samsung's UI from your device, your only option is to flash your device with a new ROM that doesn’t have a Samsung's fingerprints on it. This will void your warranty though, as the Knox counter will be set to zero. To flash your Samsung, the first thing you’ll need is Odin.

To erase Touchwiz or another Samsung UI from your phone, you’ll need a few things: first, install a custom recovery and then install the new ROM from the custom recovery. Some ROMs come pre-rooted by default, but for others it’s optional.

AndroidPIT odin samsung firmware flash
Modifying the software on a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. / © NextPit

The most common custom recovery for Samsung is TWRP. To install it, you’ll need the exact file for your phone model. You can download it from its official page: devices supported by TWRP. To install the recovery with Odin, you’ll need the file with the .tar extension.

When the custom recovery is ready, you can start looking for a ROM without TouchWiz or any other Samsung UIs. In the XDA forum, you’ll find a lot of ROMS based on pure, stock Android (AOSP) that you can try out. The main thing to keep an eye on is how often it updates and user comments. If you’re not sure where to start, Lineage OS might be a good place.

Do you like TouchWiz/One UI? If not, what modifications did you do to make the UI more bearable? Let us know in the comments below!

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Luis Ortega

Luis Ortega
Editor

Luis is an editor and moderator of the forum. He was born and raised in Granada where he studied Geology and Education. After many professional experiences, he landed at AndroidPIT in 2015. A confessed geek, Luis likes open source software and, of course, Android. He loves apps that manage bad memory and make life easier. He loves the sea and enjoys his free time on any kind of board.

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44 comments
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  • Gordon Dolan 2
    Gordon Dolan Nov 12, 2021 Link to comment

    OneUI duplicates much of the stock Android features; I dont want two versions of *Cloud, *Messages, etc, etc. It's bad enough with 5 or 6 places that files & photos are hidden in... If I want to store stuff in different folders I can do it myself, to hell with Samsung's categorising! It's all unwanted complication.


  • Gordon Dolan 2
    Gordon Dolan Nov 3, 2021 Link to comment

    I read elsewhere that rooting a Samsung device is inadvisable since some sites (like banking) will not accept log on from rooted devices.

    Having UIs forced on me is the reason I will never buy another Chinese phone and why I bought this Pixel 4A. What I would like ideally is my Samsung A7 tablet having exactly the same UI as Google Pixel.

    Zois Bekios Zannikos


    • Zois Bekios Zannikos 9
      Zois Bekios Zannikos Nov 4, 2021 Link to comment

      This is a good point to make, perhaps the article is due for an update


  • 1
    roxy's?'s Nov 6, 2019 Link to comment

    Does the stuff im reading about, the uninstalling of bloatware and preinstalled apps, work on a s6 edge?


  • 1
    missyann Aug 8, 2019 Link to comment

    In July I had am update to my samsung galaxy phone, my phone stated freezing up on me so I restarted my phone, since then I keep getting error "One UI home keeps stopping and hasn't stopped and no one knows how to fix it..If there are any suggestions I am open to it


  • 1
    bronwen dowdy Feb 21, 2019 Link to comment

    Touch wiz keeps saying that it has stopped working, anybody know what to do about it, please help, thanks in advance.


  • Enal Kreeny 1
    Enal Kreeny Jan 3, 2019 Link to comment

    FYI "disable" is greyed out for me.


  • 2
    Charles Nov 18, 2018 Link to comment

    first Samsung phone and I like the ui on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. looking forward to one ui


  • 49
    storm Nov 16, 2018 Link to comment

    I'm glad you like it. There were some good bits of touchwiz for the s pen when I had a Note. But the rest was terrible blaot that wanted extra useless accounts and far too much personal data.


  • Dwarfer66 25
    Dwarfer66 Apr 14, 2018 Link to comment

    What I don't get is why but a great phone like the Sammy S series then kill it with a crap AOSP.

    Gordon Dolan


  • 28
    itprolonden Apr 12, 2018 Link to comment

    The question is why? There are many other choices out there.

    Deactivated AccountDwarfer66


  • Emmanuel Godwin 3
    Emmanuel Godwin Apr 12, 2018 Link to comment

    But i still don't see anything wrong with touchwiz and the new Samsung experience ui. i even see them as great ui that gives you more feature and more power to customize your device in a way that Android doesn't want you to

    Michael WalshDwarfer66itprolonden


    • 49
      storm Nov 16, 2018 Link to comment

      Android doesn't want anything. Indeed it is deeply extensible and customizable. TouchWiz with the locked bootloader is about keeping you in Samsung's garden to try and collect data and money. If Samsung was interested in you doing things freely, the bootloader would never be locked in the first place and Knox efuses wouldn't have happened either.

      Gordon Dolan


  • 19
    Glostermeteor Apr 10, 2018 Link to comment

    One thing to note about Samsung phones and installing Custom ROMS, on top end Samsungs it degrades the quality of the camera and pictures taken. Most of the work in terms of picture quality is done by Samsungs own software so if you remove that and just rely on Androids native camera the results are worse.

    Elfyn


    • Dwarfer66 25
      Dwarfer66 Apr 14, 2018 Link to comment

      That's why I only use Sammy custom roms.


      • 49
        storm Nov 16, 2018 Link to comment

        Yes, there are touchwiz ROMs or sideloading the camera app.


  • 10
    Douglas Nolan Apr 10, 2018 Link to comment

    I use a Galaxy Note 4,rooted with a custom recovery,custom kernel,and Xposed..along with Nova Launcher.I want to be able to use the S pen with all functions so the dear AOSP ROM ain't an option. BUT..the only problem I have discovered is because the ROM is 6.0.1, It's almost impossible to get Viper4Android working..apart from that..perfect device..!!


  • Rusty H. 33
    Rusty H. Apr 10, 2018 Link to comment

    It's a shame, you pay THAT amount of money for a high end device, and, most of the time you can't set it up the way YOU want without having to root, flash custom roms etc. I prefer to buy another brand, that has an almost stock Android, put in Nova Launcher and call it good.

    Gordon DolanDeactivated Account


    • 28
      itprolonden Apr 12, 2018 Link to comment

      But your phone is featureless comparatively speaking.

      Dwarfer66


  • 28
    itprolonden Apr 10, 2018 Link to comment

    Why? Just buy a different device!

    SorinRusty H.

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