More than ten years after its debut with the first curved-screen Galaxy phones, the Edge Panel remains one of Samsung’s signature features, allowing users to quickly access apps, contacts, and utility tools with just a swipe. Although the trend of curved-screen designs has gradually disappeared, the Edge Panel is still maintained and continues to be upgraded. With One UI 8.5, Samsung is preparing to bring an important change: support for landscape mode.

In previous versions of One UI, when users rotated their phones to landscape mode, the Edge Panel would disappear from the interface, making quick access inconvenient. However, in One UI 8.5, Samsung has completely fixed this problem. The Edge Panel can now rotate horizontally and remain on the screen, allowing users to open their favorite apps or tools even while watching videos or playing games.

According to initial testing, the Edge Panel in landscape mode can display three app icons or shortcuts at the same time. Users just need to scroll slightly to see more items. Although it is a small change, it makes the user experience more seamless and intuitive, especially for those who often use the phone in landscape mode.

This move is considered a continuation of the user interface optimization strategy that Samsung started with One UI 7.0, when the company changed the arrangement of apps and widgets in landscape mode. Along with that, One UI 8.5 also brings more flexible customization to the Quick Panel, allowing users to freely add or remove quick shortcuts according to their usage habits.