Samsung said to be cutting back on unnecessary features in TouchWiz

Over the last few years, we’ve seen Samsung’s TouchWiz UI become a lot less intrusive. It’s more attractive and more useful than ever, and it looks like Samsung plans to continue improving its software experience with a “less is more” approach.

According to new reports coming out of Korea, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 will feature a new version of TouchWiz that cuts back on unnecessary features. Business Korea cites industry sources that say the OS will be simplified to better compete with Google’s Nexus 6, which offers a pure Android experience out of the box.

Though many manufacturers see custom UIs and first-party apps as a way to differentiate themselves from the competition, an increasing number are showing restraint when it comes to Android customizations. Motorola has received an extremely positive response to the minimal customizations present in its Moto line of phones and we found Huawei’s Ascend Mate 2 to be relatively lightweight. There’s also been a trend towards “Google Play Edition” versions of flagship phones from major manufacturers hoping to appeal to the stock Android fans.

To hear that Samsung is planning further cuts to TouchWiz is no surprise given Samsung has been making some software cuts as of late. In December, the company announced the near complete shut down of ChatON and WatchON, two of its proprietary apps for Galaxy users.

A new TouchWiz also fits in with what’s been said about the S6 so far. Samsung is reported to be building an entirely new device from the ground up (hence the Project Zero codename) rather than basing it on an existing design. Earlier this week, there was talk of the company making two different versions of the S6, one curved and one metal. The company is very eager to hit a home run with the Galaxy S6 after the S5’s underwhelming sales performance.

[source]Business Korea[/source]