New reports have revealed that Samsung is rolling out the doomed Galaxy Note 7’s Grace UX – the refined version of TouchWiz – to the Galaxy Note 5.
Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 was a proud mixture of triumph and disappointment; up until the phone began its explosive series of failures, the device was hotly anticipated for its refined design, updated stylus, and perhaps most importantly Grace UX – a revised vision of TouchWiz.
While we love getting our hands on Samsung’s devices, there’s little doubt that TouchWiz has been the primary vector of hate for the South Korean chaebol; the interface’s weight atop Android has led even the most ardent of Android supporters – such as our Editor Theunis – to scratch their heads.
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While we never officially got our hands on the Note 7 in South Africa – our Staff Writer Jaco van der Walt did, however – we now might be able to enjoy one of the device’s best features as reports now indicate that Samsung has released Grace UX to Galaxy Note 5 owners.
The update was first found by an XDA-Developers forum member named TokyoGuy, who discovered that his Galaxy Note 5 was eligible for a 600MB over-the-air update including all the Grace UX goodness we never received with the Note 7.
The update includes a blue light filter – similar to Apple’s Night Shift, for example – and the kernel dates back to October 24th; indicating that Grace UX has been on the cards for a while.
Those of us in South Africa might have to wait a while longer to see Grace UX; the version found thus far has been linked to KT Telecom – a South Korean mobile network – meaning that the update will need to be approved by local telecoms first.
However, seeing as the Galaxy Note 7 pre-orders were suspended and ultimately canceled before the device officially reached South Africa, we might get a kiss-and-make-up gesture before long.
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Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
