I attempted Samsung’s DIY Residence function in One UI 7, and I want I hadn’t

Customization has all the time been Samsung’s bread and butter. Above all else, it’s the explanation I steer individuals in direction of Galaxy units — sure, much more than versatile cameras, wonderful construct high quality, and dependable software program updates. There’s one thing about an Android cellphone you can also make actually your individual that feels proper. And, when Apple’s method to customization on iOS was to pressure each app to the highest of your show, the selection couldn’t have been simpler.

Now, although, Samsung has gone too far to the darkish aspect. It’s thrown out the delicate guidelines that preserve Android residence screens organized in favor of adopting true anarchy. I opened my Galaxy S25 as much as strive DIY Residence in One UI 7, and I worry I’ve misplaced all sense of group. Right here’s the place all of it went unsuitable.

I explored DIY Residence, understanding that it will in all probability problem my traditional One UI preferences. I imply, I are inclined to preserve a fairly minimalist residence display, so any settings panel that requires me to put in Good Lock, obtain a module, after which rework my structure feels, nicely, maximalist. However that’s exactly what I did within the title of customization.

At first, all the things appeared… okay. I didn’t thoughts dragging and dropping an app right here or there, and I appreciated that I might make sure folders bigger than others, just like what Nothing has carried out on its Nothing OS. I dragged a couple of further apps over to the correct aspect of my display, making them a lot simpler to succeed in with my proper thumb, and I shifted less-used components just like the climate widget and Now Bar over to the left.

Then, chaos ensued. Chances are you’ll not know this about me (actually, why would you?), however I don’t adore it when meals touches on my plate — particularly at Thanksgiving. Regardless that I like every component individually, all of them have their very own locations and distinct flavors, and I’d a lot relatively preserve it that means. I’m not this choosy in all elements of my every day life, however because it seems, I positively am with my cellphone.

As you’ll be able to in all probability think about, the second I let go of an app too early and it touched one other, I used to be all the best way out on DIY Residence. There’s simply no probability I’d be okay with a house display the place Slack and Instagram might sit proper on prime of one another, virtually daring me to doomscroll and waste the remainder of my workday. But, that’s what DIY Residence dared me to do.

After a brief stretch with DIY Residence — no quite a lot of hours — I pulled the plug. Dr. Ian Malcolm’s phrases echoed via my head as I did so: “Your scientists have been so preoccupied with whether or not they might, they didn’t cease to suppose if they need to,” and he was proper to query my intentions. However, I had seen colleagues provide you with chaotic layouts, and strangers on Reddit had created stunning layouts that broke my mind just a bit bit, so you’ll be able to’t fault me for desirous to strive it.

Nonetheless, as I tossed the well-known Jurassic Park quote backwards and forwards in my head, attempting to steadiness it with Samsung’s precise implementation, I discovered myself siding an increasing number of with Dr. Malcolm. Though Samsung has all the time favored customization, it’s additionally saved cheap floor guidelines in place. It allow you to fine-tune your individual grid, but it surely did so whereas retaining that grid in place.

With DIY Residence, although, all of these guidelines are off. You possibly can drag and drop apps and widgets like I did, however you too can add emoji stickers, freeform doodles, and textual content bins to your structure. Do any of this stuff do, nicely, something? No, they’re purely ornamental. Nonetheless, they will add to the general muddle of your structure and, at the very least to me, make all the things just a little bit tougher to seek out.

After all, there are precisely two teams of people that make me just a little nervous concerning the energy of DIY Residence: My grandparents and folks with younger children. On the one hand, I’m already the de facto Geek Squad for my grandma and grandpa, so I understand how simply they stumble into settings I by no means would have discovered. I do know it will take only one cellphone name about misplacing an app for me to spring into motion and check out to sort things.

Conversely, there’s no simpler option to pacify just a little one than to provide them a display to play with. I’ve seen it work with my nephew, and I’ve been endlessly relieved that my cellphone isn’t the one choosing up these fingerprints. Nonetheless, identical to my grandparents, I do know my cousin wouldn’t adore it if his son stacked up all his apps and doodled on them, inflicting him to reset the DIY Residence structure he might need beforehand created.

However hey, in case you’re the one one who ever touches your cellphone and have the time and a focus to make the right DIY Residence structure, then I believe it is best to experiment. I believe it is best to attempt to create an artsy, if impractical, residence display structure, and I might like to see what you provide you with. I’m blissful to be confirmed unsuitable by the extra inventive Samsung customers, even whereas my DIY Residence toggle stays set firmly to Off.