Now Brief is one of the most disappointing Samsung features I’ve used in years - Related to used, &, more, one, wireless

Now Brief is one of the most disappointing Samsung features I’ve used in years

As has been the case for the last few Samsung smartphone launches, the most interesting bits of the Galaxy S25 series have nothing to do with hardware. For Samsung, it’s all about software — specifically, AI software capabilities. On the Galaxy S25, one of the biggest new capabilities is Now Brief.

The idea behind Now Brief is strong. It’s supposed to be a one-stop shop on your phone that reveals all sorts of relevant info for your day — such as upcoming calendar events, friends’ birthdays, missed calls, flight/event tickets, etc. Listening to Samsung talk about Now Brief in a Galaxy S25 briefing last month, it sounded like the Google Now replacement I’d waited years for.

Unfortunately, after using Now Brief on a Galaxy S25 for the last couple of weeks, it’s not that at all. There’s potential for Now Brief to be great, but at least in its current form, Samsung has a long way to go to get there.

What do you think about Now Brief? 85 votes I'm using it and love it. 0 % I like it, but it could be enhanced. 14 % It's been disappointing. 53 % I haven't used it yet. 33 %.

As I set up my Galaxy S25, Now Brief initially made a good first impression. You access Now Brief in a couple of ways — either through the dedicated Now Brief home screen widget or via the small lock screen icon that appears in the Now Bar at the start and end of your day.

The overall layout of Now Brief is pretty simple, with a vertical list of different cards Samsung thinks you might be interested in. However, the content of these cards changes throughout the day, as does the text at the top of the Now Brief. You also get a nice fade-in animation for the text and cards each time you open Now Brief. They’re small touches, but they make the whole experience feel polished and sleek.

Now Brief on the lock screen Now Brief home page Now Brief content settings.

Scroll to the bottom of your Now Brief and tap the settings icon, and you can enable/disable the different types of information you want displayed. At the time of publication, there are 13 categories to choose from, including Travel, Events and tasks, Communication, Traffic updates, News, etc.

So far, so good! Accessing Now Brief is easy, the presentation is nice, and there’s ample control over what you want displayed. If that’s all true, what’s the problem?

The issue with Now Brief is this. For as well-styled and presented as it is, the simple truth is that it doesn’t do anything — at least nothing useful.

I look at my Galaxy S25’s Now Brief at least twice a day, once in the morning and as I’m getting ready for bed at night. And every time, the content of my Now Brief is virtually the same. I have a weather forecast at the top, a calendar event below that (if I have something coming up), and a random (usually political) news article at the bottom. And … that’s it.

Now Brief is nothing but a glorified weather and news app, and a bad one at that.

I expected Now Brief to be barebones right out of the box, but even as I’ve kept using my Galaxy S25 day after day, it hasn’t gotten any improved. I want to see emails from my Gmail inbox I may have missed. Maybe online orders that are being delivered soon. An overview of sports scores for teams I’m interested in would be great. Sadly, Now Brief hasn’t shown me any of this.

My Now Brief has occasionally had extra cards beyond the news and weather, but nothing worthwhile. At one point, I started getting a card for a recommended morning routine to automatically open Google Keep around when I wake up. It was a fair suggestion, considering I regularly opened Google Keep each morning to make notes about my S25’s battery life, but it wasn’t something I needed or wanted a routine for.

I also sometimes see a YouTube Shorts section appear, but it’s hilariously half-baked. I enabled it a few days into using the Galaxy S25, thinking it would show YouTube Shorts I might be interested in based on my viewing habits. But no. Instead, it’s just a shortcut to start watching YouTube Shorts with no personalization at all.

As for the cards I see most often — weather and current news — the implementation is objectively bad. You don’t go to the Samsung Weather app when you tap on the weather forecast. Instead, it simply opens [website] in your web browser. And as much as I enjoy keeping up with the news, a single article isn’t particularly helpful. I would imagine Galaxy AI is powerful enough to show me a handful of news articles to cover the most significant events of a given day, but instead, it’s restrained to just one.

And that’s ultimately what my Now Brief is every day: a widget to the [website] website and one whole news article. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s not the personalized daily overview I was hoping for from Now Brief.

Although Now Brief isn’t the first Galaxy AI feature that hasn’t landed for me, it is the one that feels like it has the most wasted potential. As I showcased above, the pitch/concept for Now Brief is great. We use our phones for everything, and having a centralized place to catch up on the things that matter most is a fantastic idea. But that idea doesn’t matter if the execution isn’t there, and that’s where Now Brief falls apart.

There is the possibility that Now Brief will get more effective over time and capitalize on its currently wasted potential — whether that’s through increased third-party developer support, deeper Google account integration, or more effective Now Brief experiences from Samsung itself. Realistically, it needs all of the above.

But will those things happen? That’s the big question. I certainly hope they do, but given Samsung’s tendency to focus on regularly launching new aspects rather than spending heaps of time improving existing ones, I’m not holding my breath. As someone who was really hoping Now Brief would be great, that sucks.

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The Ultimate iPhone 16 Guide: Recover, Wireless Restore & More

There may come a point when restoring an iPhone 16 or entering recovery mode becomes necessary. Occasionally, a force restart may be required when the device becomes unresponsive. Additionally, iOS 18 introduces a wireless restore feature, allowing restoration of a nearby iPhone 16 Pro or iPad mini 7 wirelessly via another iPhone running iOS 18.

This guide applies to all devices in the iPhone 16 lineup: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Before beginning, it is crucial to understand the physical button layout. The two Volume buttons are on the left-hand side, while the Side button is on the right-hand side. The Action button and Camera Control button are not used in this tutorial.

The iPhone 16 series attributes multiple methods for powering off:

Method 1 : Invoke Control Center by swiping down from the top right-hand corner, long-press the power button in the upper right-hand corner, and slide to power off.

: Invoke Control Center by swiping down from the top right-hand corner, long-press the power button in the upper right-hand corner, and slide to power off. Method 2 : Long-press the Side button along with either of the Volume buttons, then slide to power off.

: Long-press the Side button along with either of the Volume buttons, then slide to power off. Method 3: Navigate to Settings → General, tap Shut Down at the bottom of the page, and slide to power off.

Long-press the Side button until the Apple logo appears. If the logo does not appear, the battery may be fully drained. Charge the device and try again. A black screen could also indicate DFU mode, which can be exited by following the instructions in the DFU section below.

If the iPhone 16 becomes unresponsive, performing a force restart can resolve the issue:

Quick-press the Volume up button and release. Quick-press the Volume down button and release. Long-press the Side button until the device turns off.

If successful, the Apple logo will appear, followed by the iOS Lock Screen.

Placing the iPhone 16 into recovery mode requires a USB-C connection to a Mac:

Quick-press the Volume down button and release.

Long-press the Side button until the connect-to-computer screen appears. A Finder window will confirm the device is in recovery mode, providing options to improvement or restore iOS.

Long-press the Side button until the connect-to-computer screen disappears. The iPhone 16 will reboot to the Lock Screen.

Wireless restore in iOS 18 allows restoring an iPhone via a nearby device running iOS 18:

Ensure the iPhone is stuck in recovery mode. Perform the following steps: Quick-press the Volume up button and release.

Quick-press the Volume down button and release.

Long-press the Side button until the screen goes black.

Repeatedly press the Side button until the Apple logo appears briefly, then disappears. When the Apple logo slowly fades in and out, a glyph animation will prompt bringing the iPhone close to another iPhone running iOS 18. On the working iPhone, a “Restore Nearby iPhone” prompt will appear. Tap Continue. Enter the verification code displayed on the iPhone in recovery mode. Choose Exit Recovery Mode first and tap Continue. If unsuccessful, select System Recovery and tap Continue to modification iOS.

DFU mode allows iOS reinstallation via USB:

Connect the iPhone 16 to a Mac using a USB-C cable. Perform the following steps in quick succession: Quick-press the Volume up button and release.

Quick-press the Volume down button and release.

Long-press the Side button for 10 seconds.

While holding the Side button, long-press the Volume down button for 5 seconds.

Release the Side button while continuing to long-press the Volume down button for an additional 10 seconds. If performed correctly, the iPhone 16’s display will remain black, indicating DFU mode is active.

Quick-press the Volume up button and release. Quick-press the Volume down button and release. Long-press the Side button until the Apple logo appears.

Long-press the Side button and either Volume button until the power-off slider appears. Face ID will be disabled until the device is unlocked with a passcode.

Emergency SOS can be triggered in three ways:

Long-press the Side button and one of the Volume buttons until Emergency SOS activates.

Enable “Call with Side Button” in Settings → Emergency SOS, allowing Emergency SOS to be triggered by pressing the Side button five times.

Use the Emergency SOS slider after long-pressing the Side and Volume buttons.

The “Call Quietly” option in Emergency SOS settings silences alarms and flashes for a discrete alert.

How to Disable Find My When Powering Down.

iOS 18 allows iPhone 16 to be tracked even when powered down, provided the device is logged into Find My and location services are enabled.

How to Check the Time on a Dead iPhone 16.

Press the Side button once to display the time in the upper right-hand corner.

How to Use Home Key When Battery Is Dead.

If an Apple Home Key-compatible smart lock is installed, it can be unlocked even when the iPhone 16 has no battery. Express Mode must be enabled in the Wallet app. Press the Side button on the dead iPhone, then hold it near the lock to unlock.

Recovery mode and DFU mode may not be commonly used, but they are essential tools for troubleshooting. Force restarting an unresponsive iPhone 16 is a useful skill, as well as understanding iOS 18’s wireless restore feature.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions.

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