Latest news with #NowBrief
Android Authority
23-07-2025
- Android Authority
Forgot to pay that bill? Samsung Now Brief now comes to your rescue.
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung now offers custom reminder cards in Now Brief via the Routines Plus app. This allows you to create reminders in Now Brief that appear at your desired time, complete with a link to open a specific app. The feature will eventually come to Galaxy phones without Now Brief support. Samsung's Now Brief feature debuted on the Galaxy S25 series, giving you a summary of relevant info several times a day. We had mixed impressions after first using it, but Samsung continues to improve the feature. The Galaxy maker isn't stopping here, as it's just introduced another handy feature to Now Brief. Samsung announced on its Korean-language community forum (via SammyGuru) that the Routines Plus Good Lock module has received a One UI 8 update. This update lets you create a routine that reminds you via Now Brief. Check out the machine-translated screenshots below. The screenshots reveal that you can choose a reminder time and description, whether it repeats (and how often it repeats), link the Now Brief card to a specific app, and specify an image. The ability to link the info card to an app should be pretty useful, as it theoretically means you can quickly accomplish the task without looking for the app first. In any event, this could be handy for small tasks you sometimes forget to do, such as buying something, calling someone, making a payment, and more. Samsung also says devices without Now Brief will benefit from this feature as the reminder will pop up via your notifications instead. So you don't need a recent flagship phone to take advantage of this functionality. For what it's worth, we aren't seeing this feature on our Galaxy Z Fold 7 running One UI 8. It's not the first time we've heard about this feature, either. We first heard about custom Now Brief cards in June, and that leaked feature seems identical to this newly announced capability. We're just glad Samsung is updating Now Brief with more features. This latest feature joins new info cards like YouTube recommendations, parking spot reminders, battery alerts for wearables, and smart home updates. Samsung has also brought audio playback functionality, so you can have your Now Brief cards read to you. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Tom's Guide
20-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
I can't think of anything worse than letting AI run my life from my phone — here's why
You can't get away from AI anymore. That ship has firmly sailed, and it doesn't matter whether you're trying to take photos, search the web or something entirely different, odds are AI is going to make itself known at some point. Some people have embraced this change and go out of their way to take advantage of AI tools. I am not one of those people. Call me a luddite if you want, but I generally don't feel comfortable with the idea of passing too much off to a machine if I can help it. Especially if it means letting that machine think, or make decisions for me. And that means I'm not going anywhere near services like Samsung's Now Brief, which seems to be built to eventually try and run my life for me. I've spoken at length about my general dissatisfaction with AI features that have been pushed front and center on our phones. I don't mean the background processes, like computational photography or display upscaling, but the features that specifically have you interacting with the AI. I don't actually want to hand off tasks and responsibilities to those AIs. Not only do I prefer to do that work myself, and make an effort to find and do what I need, I don't actually trust an AI to get things right. Google's AI Overviews is a great example of that in action. While Google supposedly did work to stop the feature from spewing out blatant misinformation after it first launched, the feature still screws up sometimes. I've seen examples of incorrect information both in person, and shared around the internet. I don't know whether this is the same AI model that powers Google Gemini or not, but it's enough to make me wary of taking what AI tells me for granted. At least if I go searching for the information and pick up a dud source, that's on me. Because I should know better than to just pick a single source and run with it regardless of what it says. Which is essentially how AI seems to do things — at least in my eyes. And if I'm not trusting AI to find out something mundane, like when the supermarket closes for the day, then why on Earth would I trust it to take control of my life? I don't need someone to plan my routine for me I am now 34 years old, so I've had plenty of time to get to grips with the whole "adult life" thing. To the point where my general routine hasn't really changed since I got a dog 4 years back. Because I had to get up and be responsible, instead of sleeping all day like I used to. Admittedly I don't have a particularly strenuous daily routine. There's no commute, so I don't need to worry about potential traffic or how late my train will inevitably end up being. Add the fact that I currently don't have kids, there aren't that many logistical hurdles to have to worry about. I say this because it means I don't actually need a whole lot of help managing myself day-to-day. Not that I'd want AI help to get me through my day otherwise. Now Brief in its current state isn't really in a position for me to hand over my life and do everything for you, but with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and One UI 8, it seems as though Samsung is doubling down on this idea — offering "more customized insights" in the new software. I can see what Samsung is trying to do, but I'll have to decline. I'll ignore the fact that Now Brief is reliant on being hooked into Samsung's smart architecture, which is something I have not done. It doesn't really matter whether it would be Samsung, Google, Apple or someone else entirely. This is not for me. I get they're only suggestions, but I like to at least pretend that I have some modicum of control over my own life. Letting Now Brief, or some similar software feature, muscle its way into that process just chips away at what little agency I already have. Plus, I don't actually want to be generating all kinds of data for the AI algorithms to sort over. As silly as it seems, considering how much information I store on my Android phone already, I don't feel comfortable handing over that intimate level of access to a faceless machine. AI may be attempting to integrate itself in every facet of our technological lives, but that doesn't mean we have to let it if we don't want that. While there are plenty of people out there who have taken advantage of AI tools to help them out in their daily lives, I don't see much benefit in doing so. Not when I can do all that myself. Maybe things will change as I get older, and as AI technology improves. But for now, I am quite happy to continue as I always have done and get by on my own. It's certainly not a perfect system, and the fact I arrived for a vet appointment this week only to find out I was 24 hours early is a perfect example of that. Maybe a little more AI support would have stopped that happening, or maybe it wouldn't. At least it's a mistake I made myself, mixing up how dates are supposed to work, and I can live with that.
Android Authority
10-07-2025
- Android Authority
Samsung Now Brief is making it easier to discover YouTube videos you may like
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung has upgraded One UI's Now Brief feature on its latest foldables, introducing a read-aloud option and several new info cards. One of the new info cards adds personalized YouTube recommendations to your daily summaries. This card is currently available on Samsung's new foldable phones and will likely reach more devices with the stable One UI 8 update. Samsung's One UI 8 update is finally here with the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7, and it brings much more than what we've seen in beta builds over the last few weeks. For instance, we recently discovered that Samsung has upgraded the Now Brief feature in the new software release, adding an audio option that reads your summaries aloud and several new info card types. The new info card types let you add parking spot reminders, smart home updates, and wearable battery alerts to Now Brief, making the feature even more helpful. Additionally, Samsung has added a YouTube info card that adds personalized YouTube recommendations to your daily summaries. As shown in the attached screenshots, when you enable the YouTube toggle on Now Brief's 'Content to include' menu, a new section titled 'Check out these YouTube videos' is added to your summary. Now Brief requests access to your YouTube account when you first enable the toggle to provide personalized recommendations in this section. With the new YouTube info card, Now Brief summaries will also help you discover videos you may like, in addition to providing helpful information about your day. However, you'll have to wait a while to get this new info card on your device, as it's currently only available on Samsung's latest foldable phones. It will likely reach more Galaxy users with stable One UI 8 over the coming weeks. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
09-07-2025
- Android Authority
Samsung Now Brief is getting much more useful with these new features
TL;DR The Now Brief feature on Samsung's new foldable phones can now read your briefing out loud for you. It also supports new info types, such as parking spot reminders and wearable battery alerts. These additions are available on Samsung's new foldable phones. Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 series, which are the first Galaxy phones with One UI 8. The new software has plenty of features, but it also brings two welcome upgrades to Now Brief. We can confirm that Now Brief on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 can read your summaries out loud. You can activate this read aloud option by tapping the waveform icon in the top right corner, below the battery icon. Check out our screenshots below. Once you've tapped the audio option, you can hit the pause icon to temporarily halt the audio playback or the X icon to stop it completely. Either way, this is a handy way to get your Now Brief summary. This is especially useful if you're driving, visually impaired, or otherwise unable to read in the moment. It's not the first time we've heard about an audio option coming to Now Brief. We discovered evidence of this feature back in May. Nevertheless, we hope this feature comes to more Galaxy phones as part of the One UI 8 upgrade. Hadlee Simons / Android Authority This isn't the only Now Brief addition we spotted on the foldables. We also discovered new info card types (seen above), namely parking spot reminders, smart home, and wearable battery alerts. These info types were initially spotted last month. Nevertheless, all of these options should go some way to making Now Brief a more powerful tool. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Thinnest, lightest Z Fold to date • More durable design • 200MP primary camera • Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy MSRP: $1,999.99 Thin, light, high-powered, and it folds! The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 offers an 8-inch OLED screen, a 200MP camera, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, and a 4,400mAh battery. The Galaxy AI experience is baked in, offering tools across the camera, Circle to Search, and much more. Best of all, Samsung continues to evolve their fold folding hinge assembly, promising reduced visibility of the crease. See price at Samsung See price at Amazon Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Largest ever Flex Window • 6.9-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X folding screen • 7 years of updates MSRP: $1,099.00 Melds Galaxy AI with the new edge-to-edge FlexWindow With a 6.9-inch main display and a 4.1-inch FlexWindow outer display, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 focuses on putting AI smarts in your pocket. Measuring just 13.74mm thick when folded, it's the slimmest Z Flip phone yet. Packed with a 50MP camera and a suite of AI tools, Samsung calls the Z Flip 7 a "pocket-sized selfie studio." See price at Samsung See price at Amazon Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
09-07-2025
- Android Authority
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE gets Flip 7's fancy cover screen features, but what about the Flip 6?
TL;DR Samsung has confirmed that the Now Bar, Now Brief, Gemini, and Gemini Live will be available on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE's cover screen. These features are also available on the Galaxy Z Flip 7's larger cover display. Furthermore, the company told us that these features would be coming to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 as part of the One UI 8 update. Samsung has just launched its new foldable phones, including the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the slightly cheaper Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. The former phone has several notable cover screen features, but the FE model is also getting in on the action. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 allows you to use the Now Bar, Now Brief, Gemini, and Gemini Live on the cover screen. However, Samsung has confirmed that these same features are available on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE's cover screen. You won't have to buy a new Galaxy Z Flip phone if you want these features, either. The company told us they'd also be available on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 as part of the One UI 8 upgrade. This news also comes as Samsung overhauls the cover display on its new Flip phones. The phones now let you add any Android widget to the cover screen, as opposed to only allowing a small selection of full-screen panels. We hope this feature comes to older Flip devices as well. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Largest ever Flex Window • 6.9-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X folding screen • 7 years of updates MSRP: $1,099.00 Melds Galaxy AI with the new edge-to-edge FlexWindow With a 6.9-inch main display and a 4.1-inch FlexWindow outer display, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 focuses on putting AI smarts in your pocket. Measuring just 13.74mm thick when folded, it's the slimmest Z Flip phone yet. Packed with a 50MP camera and a suite of AI tools, Samsung calls the Z Flip 7 a "pocket-sized selfie studio." See price at Samsung See price at Amazon Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE Cheapest Galaxy foldable to date • 50MP primary camera MSRP: $899.00 Budget-friendly Galaxy Z Flip With as few compromises as possible to bring the price down, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE rocks a 6.7-inch main display, a 3.4-inch front display, and an Exynos chipset. See price at Samsung See price at Amazon Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
