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I personally love Samsung's One UI, but not everybody wants their Samsung smartphone to feel quite so Samsung. Getting your phone to feel a little more Google and a little less Galaxy is fortunately quite straightforward, both thanks to Android itself and some of the inherent customization features found in One UI. In this guide, we'll show you how to make your Galaxy phone look and feel a bit more Pixel-y. One UI 4.0 has made this a lot easier when compared to older versions of Samsung's skin, so I'll be including different methods for theming older and newer phones.

Hex installer — One UI 3.0

Left: Hex main menu, Center/Right: Theme applied.

Hex Installer is one of the best tools for customizing One UI. It allows you to make a custom theme with custom accent colors and you can make UI elements less rounded, matching the Note series. The themes you create are recognized by the built-in themes app, so applying them doesn't require modifying your phone in any way. The app uses plugins, modules that can be downloaded through the Play Store to apply specific styles to your theme. In this example, we'll be using the AOSP R Day/Night plugin to achieve a stock appearance.

Once both apps are installed, head into Hex and press edit. From there, enter the plugins menu and choose AOSP R, then go through the various menus and tweak things to your liking. There's a lot that can be changed, and we don't have time to delve into everything today. If you want a basic AOSP look, just leave everything as it is once the plugin is selected, press the install button, and follow the instructions provided by the app. Hex will set you back $2, which is more than reasonable for an app this powerful.

Hex has recently been updated to work with One UI 4.0, so if you like the custom themes available, you can continue to use them. But to make your phone look like a Pixel, One UI 4.0 devices won't need to use this app.

Homescreen

Left: Another Widget settings, Right: Ruthless Launcher

If you want the true Pixel experience for your homescreen, then Ruthless Launcher should be your first port of call. Based on the Pixel Launcher, it offers that Pixel feel with plenty of extra options to enjoy. It isn't quite as flexible as something like Lawnchair, but it's considerably more stable and is my launcher of choice, and among the best Android launchers out there.

For your icons, you'll want to head into the launcher settings and change the adaptive icon size to round. You can leave things there if you wish, but I like to use a Pixel-style icon pack too. My favorite is Pixel Icons, which is regularly updated and boasts more than 3,000 icons.

Finally, you'll want an At A Glance widget to complete your homescreen. Ruthless has its own built-in, but it insists on showing notification content and can't be customized. Switching it off is easy, and Google has helpfully made the official widget available through the Google app. If you'd like to customize things, I recommend downloading Another Widget. It faithfully replicates the At A Glance experience while adding many options, like weather icon packs and custom fonts.

Sadly the navigation gestures implemented in Android 10 still don't play well with custom launchers. If you try to swipe up into the overview screen, for example, the launcher will just read it as the home gesture being triggered. The only way to get into overview is to open an app and then swipe up and hold like normal.

To complete the homescreen, you'll want a nice wallpaper to finish things off. STOKiE is one of my favorite apps, featuring thousands of wallpapers from hundreds of devices, including Pixels. Open the app, choose Google from the list of manufacturers, and select a Pixel. All of the wallpapers from your chosen generation of Pixel will be there to choose from.

Modifying the stock launcher — One UI 4.0

If you don't want to use a custom launcher because of the issues with gesture navigation, you can still make Samsung's default launcher feel more in line with a Pixel. Samsung phones that shipped with One UI 3.1 or newer can access the Google Feed to the left of the homescreen, and you can add the At A Glance widget to the top just like the custom launcher.

One UI 4.0 lets you go one step further by using icon packs system-wide, thanks to the Good Lock module Theme Park. You can take the default icons and make them round (along with several other weird shapes) just like Pixel phones did in Android 11, or you can download an icon pack from the Google Play Store and use that, including the one I linked to above. Setting this up is a more involved process than using a custom launcher, so if you want to give it a go, I recommend you read our guide on installing custom icons on One UI 4.

Material You — One UI 4.0

Android 12's headline feature is Material You, a system that extracts colors from your wallpaper and uses them to theme your phone. It's the biggest redesign Android has seen in years, and I'm pleased to say Samsung has implemented it in One UI 4.0. When you apply a wallpaper, you'll be asked to choose between palettes that will alter your system theme, lock screen, and any supported app.

The only thing that doesn't work the same way as a Pixel is Gboard. Unfortunately, the lovely keyboard redesign from Android 12 is Pixel exclusive, so you'll be stuck with the old version on your Galaxy phone. Samsung's keyboard correctly follows Material You, but I do not recommend using it.


Follow these steps and your Samsung phone will look and feel more like a Pixel if that's your thing. Although I usually prefer to keep things as Samsung intended, the nice thing about Android is that you don't have to agree with me. It only takes a few taps to change the experience to your liking.

UPDATE: 2022/02/27 15:50 EST BY ZACHARY KEW-DENNISS

Article updated

One UI 4.0 makes it easier than ever to make your Samsung phone more Pixel-y. This article has been updated to include the new options this software upgrade has added.