Galaxy S8 Guide: Customizing Navigation Bar

If you saw our initial hands-on with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, you’ll have seen that customizing the navigation bar on the Galaxy S8 is not only easy, but pretty darn cool. On this device, Samsung allows owners to switch up the button order (Back, Home, Recent), but you can even apply your own custom color to the bar itself.

In this post, we will walk you through this simple process, so let’s get to it.

Under the Settings menu, locate the Display section. Once inside, scroll down until you find “Navigation bar.” This section is where all of the customization is handled from. If you want to change your button order, select “Button layout.” There are two options, “Recents – Home – Back,” and “Back – Home – Recents.” I, being the purist Android user that I am, go with the Back – Home – Recents option.  

Once your order is set, it is time to select a color. Now, do note, the color of the navigation bar can only be seen in select circumstances. For example, regardless of what color you select, you won’t see it on your Home screen; it will always be transparent. However, if you’re inside your Settings menu or a select application, you will see it there.

There are predetermined colors to choose from, including White, Black, Pink, Brown, Grey, and a Bluish Grey. There is also a color wheel, allowing to select basically any color you can imagine. You can go with Green, Hot Pink, Blue, or anything in between. The choice is yours. Once you have a color you like, hit “Done.” Now, whenever you are inside select applications or strolling through your Settings menu, your navigation bar will be that selected color.

Another feature very much worth noting under this section is “Unlock with Home button.” With this function enabled, a constant Home button is shown while the display is off. Hard pressing on this button will bypass the lock screen and immediately take you to the home screen. For those concerned about security, don’t worry, if your phone is password protected or otherwise locked, there is no bypassing for unknown users.

Considering this is Samsung’s first major use of on-screen buttons, they really knocked it out of the park with this implementation. Hat tip to Samsung.

This piece is part of our Galaxy S8 Guide, an ongoing segment dedicated to getting the most out of your Samsung Galaxy S8.