Matthew Cooper 
Jan 21, 2024
As the hype about Samsung Galaxy S24's exclusive AI features fade, let’s talk about one of its features which wasn’t unveiled during the Unpacked event at San Jose Centre, California on January 17 but it is interesting; however, the feature isn’t entirely exclusive.
The South Korean tech giant has included a new always-on-lock screen wallpaper feature, which takes advantage of their new LTPO displays.
The question here is why didn’t Samsung boast about this at the Galaxy Unpacked? The answer to this question is the lack of this feature’s exclusivity.
Samsung’s new One UI 6.1 feature is similar to Apple’s always-on lock screen wallpaper feature, which is available on iPhone Pro models.
Read more: Samsung to charge additional amount for AI features after 2-years
So, did Samsung copy Apple? Not exactly, because the South Korean manufacturer has added its own twist.
SamMobile reported that this feature builds on the previously available always-on display (AOD) which has been available on several smartphones from various brands.
It should be noted that the standard Android AOD feature basically shows the time, date, and weather along with some icons from the notifications tray to keep users updated about what's happening on their devices. This glanceable data is almost always displayed over a black background (to save power) and users can choose to keep it on all the time, have it scheduled or on a ‘tap to show' basis.
Read more: Can Galaxy S23 series users get Samsung’s AI features?
Samsung has basically added another layer to it by allowing the lock screen wallpaper to shine through, taking advantage of the new and reportedly more power-efficient LTPO panels, which can refresh at 1Hz, while sipping on as little power as possible.
Moreover, it also lets users erase the background of its lock screen wallpaper, keeping only the subject visible, which should in theory consume less power compared to having the whole screen lit up (albeit in a dimmed mode) all the time.
Therefore while it appears to be similar in function to Apple's always-on lock screen feature on the front, technically it's quite different in principle because Samsung will only show the same set of notification icons along with time, date and weather, while Apple's implementation actually shows a very dimmed version of the lock screen itself when in this mode, which also lets you glance at details in the notifications and more.
