Monday, February 3, 2014

Samsung S Health app update leaks in screenshots, complete with flat UI

Remember that refreshed Samsung smartphone user interface that leaked out a couple of times last month? Well that’s not the only bit of Samsung software that’s getting a makeover.

Some newly-leaked screenshots have revealed a new version of Samsung’s S Health application that features a new user interface that’s considerably flatter than the one found in the current version of S Health. While the two apps are both fairly green, that’s where the similarities end. The updated S Health app loses the drop shadows found on the icons of the current app, utilizes a lighter font and generally looks to be more in line with Google’s design guidelines for Android. One other new feature of the new S Health app is a single screen that will display the user’s location, distance traveled, speed and audio controls.

Overall this new S Health app looks like it falls in line with the refreshed Samsung smartphone UI that leaked out last month, and while opinions on the updated look are sure to vary from person to person, I think it’s quite an improvement over the existing S Health app. Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay has caught a lot of flak over the years for being too heavy and cartoonish, and it appears that ol’ Sammy may be responding with a nicer, cleaner-looking UI.

It’s worth noting that these user interface overhauls are only said to be in testing, so it’s not clear when or if they’ll be rolled out to the public. Samsung is expected to launch its new flagship Galaxy S5 in the coming months, though, and I’d say that the company’s biggest smartphone launch of the year seems like as good a time as any to roll out a refreshed UI.

What do you think of Samsung’s updated S Health app? Do you like the direction that the company is going with this flat user interface?