Samsung Galaxy S8’s Latest Software Update Makes It Easier to Switch Apps To Full Screen Mode

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 15 Jun 2017

Galaxy S8+ plus - front view

Samsung has started rolling out a new software update for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ that brings the June security patch to the handsets. Additionally, the update introduces a handy new feature while taking one away as well.

Firstly, the bad news. Post the update, you will not be able to set the navigation bar color to black on your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ post the update. After the update, the navigation bar will automatically switch back to white color or use the same color as the theme that you are using. The latter option, however, is missing from some themes and not available on all devices as well. The option to set a custom background color for the navigation bar has also been removed.

Samsung likely removed the black color option for the navigation bar to prevent burn-in and preserve the AMOLED display. If you still want the navigation bar to be black, you will have to use a third-party app like NavBar Apps to achieve that.

As for the new feature, post the update, one will be able to run all apps in fullscreen mode on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ by hiding the navigation bar. Tapping on the small dot located on the left side of the navigation bar will automatically hide the navigation bar. To bring it back up, one only needs to swipe up from the bottom.

Samsung recently started rolling out a software update for the US variants of the Galaxy S8 with Bixby improvements, but this update for the international variants of the handset does not bring any such improvements to the company’s personal assistant.

The update seems to be rolling out to the unlocked international variant of the Galaxy S8, with no word on when it will be rolled out to carrier variants.