This guide explains how to configure a Galaxy phone so its look and behavior closely match the iPhone experience while keeping Samsung One UI features. It lists the One UI settings and built-in apps to adjust navigation, home screens, search, wallpaper, lock screen, widgets, notifications, keyboard, messaging, calling, contacts, camera, files, security, and sharing.
Gesture navigation on a Galaxy phone
To make navigation behave like iOS, enable swipe gestures: open Settings > Display > Navigation bar and choose Swipe gestures. A white handle appears at the bottom of the screen. Basic gestures are: swipe up from the bottom for Home; swipe inward from the left or right edge to go Back; swipe up from the bottom and hold to view Recent apps or to multitask; swipe right on the bottom edge to cycle through recently opened apps.
Home screen layout and Finder (Spotlight equivalent)
To keep all apps on home pages like an iPhone, touch and hold an empty area of the home screen (or pinch inward), tap Settings > Home screen layout and select Home screen only, then Apply. Drag app icons to the dock by long-pressing and moving them to the bottom.
Finder is the Galaxy equivalent of Spotlight. Touch and hold an empty area of the home screen, tap Settings and enable Swipe up for Finder to open it with a swipe up. If you prefer Finder accessible by both swipe up and swipe down, disable Swipe down for notification panel in home screen settings. If you use the Apps screen, add a persistent Finder bar by touch-and-hold > Settings > Show search on Home screen and enable Finder; enable the Search toggle if available to show a Google search bar beside Finder.
Wallpapers, colors and lock screen
To change wallpapers: pinch the home screen or long-press an empty area, tap Wallpaper and style > Change wallpapers, choose a Featured wallpaper or an image from Gallery, select Home screen, Lock screen, or both, then Next and Done. To match interface colors to your wallpaper, open Wallpaper and style > Color palette, enable the Color palette toggle, pick a palette, optionally enable Apply palette to app icons, and tap Apply. Enable Dim wallpaper when Dark mode is on if desired.
To customize the lock screen: pinch the home screen > Wallpaper and style > tap the left image > tap the image-shaped icon to choose images from Gallery (you may select up to 15 images for rotation). Adjust placement, tap Done. To edit the clock, pinch > Wallpaper and style > tap the left image > tap the clock to resize and reposition it, choose font and thickness, pick a color, and use the water-drop icon to toggle transparency. In Style, choose the second clock style and enable Show date above clock to better match iPhone style. Add up to four mini widgets below the clock (for example Battery, Samsung Health Daily Activity, Weather current temp, and Weather sunrise/sunset). Edit the bottom-left and bottom-right shortcut icons (default Camera and Torch) by tapping them and selecting preferred shortcuts.
Home screen widgets
Pinch the home screen with two fingers, tap Widgets, choose a widget and tap Add. Resize widgets by dragging their edges. Long-press a widget to see Create Stack, Remove, and Settings. In Settings you can adjust opacity with the Opacity slider or disable the Background toggle to remove the widget background.
Quick Panel (Control Center) and notifications
Quick Panel is accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner. It contains toggles for Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, Mobile Data, Mobile Hotspot, Flight mode, Auto rotate, Torch, Power saving, media playback, screen brightness and compatible smart home controls. To customize it, open Quick Panel, tap the pencil icon, drag handles to resize controls, tap Add a control to include more items and long-press any control to change its position.
Access notifications by swiping down from the top center or left of the screen; swipe individual notifications left or right to dismiss them and tap the downward arrow on a notification to expand it. If you enable Swipe down for notification panel in home screen settings, you can swipe down anywhere on the home screen to open notifications, but that disables swipe-down access to Finder.
Samsung Keyboard
Open Settings > General management > Samsung Keyboard settings. Disable Suggest stickers and the Keyboard toolbar. In Layout, disable Number keys to remove the top number row. Under Swipe, touch, and feedback > Touch feedback, disable Vibration to turn off keyboard haptics.
Messaging with iPhone users and RCS
To configure Messages: open Messages, tap your profile image, then Message settings. Under Gemini in Messages, disable Show Gemini button. In Swipe actions set Swipe right to Mark as read or unread and Swipe left to Bin. Under RCS at the top, enable Turn on RCS chats and Show typing indicators so RCS features (higher-quality images, read receipts and typing indicators) work when supported by carriers. In General settings > Suggestions and actions, disable Suggested stickers; under Suggestions, disable Smart Replies and choose Tap to edit. Close Messages by swiping up to finish.
FaceTime and video calling alternatives
You can join a FaceTime call from an Apple user’s invitation link by opening it in a supported browser (for example Chrome) and requesting to join; this is browser access only and lets you accept calls but not initiate them. To both initiate and receive video calls, use alternatives such as Google Meet or WhatsApp. Google Meet is pre-installed on Android and integrates with the Phone app: in Phone > Contacts, a contact saved with a Gmail ID shows a Meet icon you can tap to start a call.
Contacts, profile card and sorting
In Contacts, open the three-dot menu > Settings, set Sort contacts by to First name and Name format to First, last. To set a Profile Card: open Contacts, tap your name, tap the pencil edit icon, tap Profile card > image icon, allow permissions if prompted, choose an image from Gallery, adjust placement, tap Done and Save. To share your profile card, enable Profile card and picture sharing in Contacts Settings and choose Share with Everyone or Contacts only.
Camera, files and Secure Folder
Camera: open Camera, tap the four-dots icon, then the Settings cog; set Swipe preview up/down to Off and under Shooting methods disable Voice commands and Show palm. Enable Location tags if you want location data added to photos.
Files: My Files lists Recent files and a Downloads section; you can tap category pills, use the Search bar at the bottom, and long-press a file to Move, Copy, Delete (items go to Recycle Bin/Trash for 30 days), or access More options such as Copy to clipboard, Details, Rename, Compress, Add to favorites or Move to Secure Folder.
Secure Folder: open Settings > Security and privacy > More security settings > Secure Folder > More > Continue, accept requested permissions and Continue. The phone creates the Secure Folder (a few minutes). Create a separate PIN (a six-digit number is recommended; four digits also work), confirm whether to allow your Samsung Account to unlock Secure Folder, choose whether apps in Secure Folder can Allow background activity while locked or Close all apps while locked, then Done. Secure Folder is protected by Samsung Knox and provides a separate space for apps and files with its own lock.
Calendar, Notes and Reminders
Calendar: open Calendar and swipe up once in the middle of the screen to get a layout more like iOS. In the side menu tap the cog Settings and disable Show completed reminders and Hide events from previous days. Use the Year view from the side menu to see the whole year.
Notes: open Samsung Notes, tap the three-dot menu > View and select Grid (small) to make the app resemble Apple Notes more closely.
Reminders: open Reminders and tap Add reminder to create items with sub-tasks, due dates, locations and images. In the three-dot menu choose Sort by > Title and Ascending. You can set early alerts, repeat rules and alert types for each reminder.
Biometrics and security
To register fingerprints: open Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Screen lock and biometrics, enter your PIN, tap Fingerprints > Add fingerprint and follow on-screen instructions. You can register up to four fingerprints. Face recognition is available on supported Galaxy phones but is less secure than fingerprint authentication, is not identical to Face ID, and is not accepted by every app or for payment authentication.
Quick Share (AirDrop equivalent) and Samsung Wallet shortcut
Quick Share: open Settings > Connected devices > Quick Share and turn on Share with Apple devices. To share, ask the Apple recipient to set AirDrop visibility to Everyone for 10 minutes, open the file, tap Share > Quick Share and choose the target iPhone, iPad or Mac; the recipient must accept.
Samsung Wallet opens via a swipe-up quick access shortcut by default. To disable that behavior: open Wallet, tap the three-dot menu > Settings > Quick access > Swipe up gesture and disable Lock screen, Home screen and Screen off toggles so swiping up no longer triggers Wallet.
Removing preinstalled apps
To remove apps you don’t use, long-press the app icon and tap Uninstall; confirm Uninstall if prompted. Some preinstalled apps offer Disable instead of Uninstall — choose Disable to stop them running or appearing on the home screen or app drawer.
