Samsung has kicked off the Android 12 update roadmap for its smartphones and among the first to receive the OneUI 4.0, there was Galaxy S21 Ultra. We wasted no time and we have been using it with good satisfaction for a few weeks now. In spite of the very long changelog, all in all, the news is not so impactful in everyday use and the S21 Ultra is proving broadly the smartphone of all time in terms of autonomy and performance.
Well, however, we are on board an Android and Samsung smartphone, a winning combination when it comes to personalized interface: the first is always very flexible and chameleonic, the Korean brand has historically been active in the field of advanced features and graphic customizations. From this union arises Good Lock, a real Swiss army knife for the experience of users with the smartphone.
Good Lock has been updated to support Android 12 and the OneUI 4.0, we then tried it and we will tell you how it went.
WHAT IS A GOOD LOCK
It is an application that allows you to run different modules, i.e. additional apps that modify part of the UI and the user experience in general. A good lock is in other words a control center for the different modules, each of which contains a certain number of possibilities and functions.
For example, there is a module to act on the lock screen, another that adds some gestures in the home, others that allow you to customize the graphics, or that modify the behavior of the notification curtain. The user can freely choose what to use.
Good Lock is an application developed by Samsung itself And you can download it from the Galaxy Store, pre-installed on all Samsung smartphones. There is therefore no type of risk in using it. Unfortunately, it is not available in Italian, but it shouldn’t be complicated to be able to use it as all its parts are intuitive.
Once you have installed the main app, Good Lock, in fact, it will be sufficient to open it and inside you will find direct links to the download of the various modules, all in turn downloadable from the Galaxy Store.
THE GOOD LOCK MODULES
We have installed Good Lock on Galaxy S21 Ultra updated to Android 12, some modules have been slightly modified compared to the past, other very beautiful and powerful ones have been added, therefore it is the right opportunity to take stock of the situation.
LOCKSTAR
This module allows you to customize UI and lock screen functionality. It is first of all possible to choose the various elements of the lock screen: clock and date widget, music, lock icon, help text, status bar, shortcuts, we can then choose the positioning of the various elements, many different themes for the clock and wallpaper.
All this is for both vertical and horizontal lock screen display, plus you can set a timeout time.
QUICKSTART
This module acts on the quick toggle panel. You can completely customize the graphics, sort the notifications by priority or history, enable or disable the display of notifications in the status bar, choose the number of quick toggles per line and adjust the clock display settings.
CLOCKFACE
It allows you to choose from dozens of clockfaces, i.e. watch styles for lock screen and AOD. It is also possible to create a personalized watch face by choosing every single graphic element, there is to be lost!
MULTISTAR
All focused on multi-window, split view, and pop-up view. You can control all aspects of these functions, both graphical and behavioral. For example, activate the split view with a long press on the recent button, the immersive mode, a small UI in the pop-up and split view, and much more.
NAVSTAR
For non-lovers of navigation gestures, you can set custom icons for the navigation bar, add buttons, change the background color. For those who use navigation gestures, you can create a pill customized in size and color and choose the sensitivity of the back gesture.
HOME UP
It is a container with various settings inside that act on the home screen, recent screen, sharing panel. These are mostly graphic customizations, such as controlling the blur in the application drawer screen, or a different layout for viewing folders.
NOTISTAR
It is a mini-app that saves in memory for a fixed time (from 7 days to infinity) all the notifications that the user receives. In this way, it is possible to recover previously deleted notifications or even save messages that are deleted from a chat, not only text but also photos.
ROUTINES +
A very powerful module that adds some functionality to Bixby routines. In particular, you can set the “if” condition for the recognition of a fingerprint (for example, open a certain app if I unlock the phone with an index finger), the “press of a key” condition that works with volume up, down and power (for example, perform a certain action if I hold down the power button for 2 seconds, or perform another if I double click), and the condition “pressing the S-Pen button or executing a gesture with the stylus.
KEYS CAFE
A module entirely dedicated to the Samsung keyboard, you can create themes, apply effects, sounds, animations, the keyboard can be revolutionized in all its parts. It is even possible to create a custom keyboard layout, add or remove keys, replace them with any symbol you want.
FANTASTIC
As the name suggests, the module refers to the functionality of the stylus. In the case of S21 Ultra, you can choose the layout of the pop-up menu that appears by pressing the key on the pen, creating a custom pointer, and establishing a quick link for the “double-tap” shortcut with the pen.
WONDERLAND
A very fun mini-app to create animated wallpapers: you choose a background photo, then you can apply motion effects, texts, and much more.
THEME PARK
The theme creation playground, this applet blends what’s already in Keys Cafe and Quick Star and adds more possibilities for creating your own themes from scratch. You have to spend some time managing all the options but the result will be exactly how you would like it to be.
NICE CATCH
With this module, you can activate various system listeners that create a history of the apps that perform certain actions: vibration, change ringtone mode, create pop-ups, advertisements, awakenings, change settings, change media volume, call mode. It can be useful for finding apps that act without our consent and without our knowledge.
ONE-HAND OPERATION +
It allows you to customize some aspects of the navigation gestures. For example, you can show cursors, customize their shape, color and operation, you can create exceptions in certain apps, choose the sensitivity, angle, speed of gestures.
EDGE TOUCH
It is useful in smartphones with curved edges, it is in fact possible to customize the interaction areas of the touch screen near the edges. If they are too sensitive causing involuntary touches it is the ultimate solution.
SOUND ASSISTANT
It contains many options to adjust the operation of the audio and vibration part of the smartphone. They range from the creation of custom vibration patterns to the volume control of individual apps, through the modification of the audio menu, the volume increase curve based on the pressure of the keys, and much more.
All the modules tend to work well even with OneUI 4.0, we just encountered some difficulties in managing the themes between the system setting and that of QuickStart. Sometimes the functions of some modules are deactivated and need to be reactivated from the application, the cases are however sporadic and do not impact the user experience.
Good Lock is definitely worth trying, probably not all modules will be compatible with your smartphone but a try is a must.
