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 the direction of Galaxy gadgets — 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 strategy 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 facet. It’s thrown out the delicate guidelines that maintain Android dwelling 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 improper.

I explored DIY Residence, understanding that it could most likely problem my typical One UI preferences. I imply, I are inclined to maintain a fairly minimalist dwelling display, so any settings panel that requires me to put in Good Lock, obtain a module, after which rework my format feels, nicely, maximalist. However that’s exactly what I did within the identify of customization.

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

Then, chaos ensued. You could not know this about me (in actual fact, why would you?), however I don’t find it irresistible when meals touches on my plate — particularly at Thanksgiving. Though I like every aspect individually, all of them have their very own locations and distinct flavors, and I’d a lot moderately maintain it that manner. I’m not this choosy in all elements of my each day life, however because it seems, I undoubtedly am with my cellphone.

As you’ll be able to most likely 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 may 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 various hours — I pulled the plug. Dr. Ian Malcolm’s phrases echoed by my head as I did so: “Your scientists had been so preoccupied with whether or not they may, they didn’t cease to assume if they need to,” and he was proper to query my intentions. However, I had seen colleagues give you 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 eager 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 affordable floor guidelines in place. It allow you to fine-tune your individual grid, but it surely did so whereas preserving 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 it’s also possible to add emoji stickers, freeform doodles, and textual content bins to your format. Do any of these items do, nicely, something? No, they’re purely ornamental. Nonetheless, they’ll add to the general muddle of your format and, at the very least to me, make all the things a bit bit tougher to search out.

After all, there are precisely two teams of people that make me a bit nervous concerning the energy of DIY Residence: My grandparents and other people 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 could 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 method to pacify a bit 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 selecting up these fingerprints. Nonetheless, identical to my grandparents, I do know my cousin wouldn’t find it irresistible if his son stacked up all his apps and doodled on them, inflicting him to reset the DIY Residence format he may need beforehand created.

However hey, should you’re the one one who ever touches your cellphone and have the time and a spotlight to make the proper DIY Residence format, then I believe it’s best to experiment. I believe it’s best to attempt to create an artsy, if impractical, dwelling display format, and I’d like to see what you give you. I’m blissful to be confirmed improper by the extra artistic Samsung customers, even whereas my DIY Residence toggle stays set firmly to Off.