Samsung Now Brief Custom Cards in One UI: How It Works

Samsung’s Now Brief, introduced with One UI 7, delivers personalized cards on the lock screen and home screen that summarize your day—weather, schedule, commute, health data, and news—based on your routines and location. You can customize which cards appear, their order, and the data sources they pull from in the Now Brief settings, though the feature currently works best on the Galaxy S24 series and newer devices running One UI 7 or later. Here’s everything you need to know about setting up, customizing, and troubleshooting Now Brief cards.

What Is Now Brief in One UI?

Now Brief is Samsung’s proactive assistant feature that learns your daily patterns and delivers a series of “briefs” at key moments—morning, commute, evening, and bedtime. Each brief is a stack of cards that show relevant information without you needing to open individual apps. For example, a morning brief might include today’s weather, your first calendar appointment, commute time to work, yesterday’s sleep score, and a news headline. The feature is part of Samsung’s broader push toward on-device AI, similar to Google’s At a Glance widget but more configurable.

Now Brief is available on devices running One UI 7 (based on Android 15) and later, with the Galaxy S24, S25, Z Fold 6, and Z Flip 6 being the first to receive it. Samsung has stated that older flagship models may get it with future updates, but availability varies by region and carrier. The cards are generated on-device, meaning your data doesn’t leave the phone for processing, which addresses privacy concerns.

How to Access and Customize Now Brief Cards

To open Now Brief, swipe right on the lock screen or home screen until you see the Now Brief widget. Alternatively, you can find it in the Samsung Free app or by tapping the Now Brief icon on the home screen. Once open, you can customize the cards by following these steps:

1. Open the Now Brief screen and tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
3. You’ll see a list of available card types: Weather, Calendar, Commute, Sleep, Workout, News, and more. Toggle each one on or off based on your preference.
4. Tap on any card type to adjust its specific settings. For example, for the Commute card, you can set your home and work addresses, preferred transport mode, and departure time.
5. Use the Reorder option (drag handles) to change the order in which cards appear within a brief.
6. Set the times for each brief (Morning, Commute, Evening, Bedtime) by tapping Brief schedule and adjusting the time sliders.

You can also choose to show or hide Now Brief on the lock screen entirely by going to Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Now Brief. If you don’t want a card to appear at all, simply toggle it off—it won’t be generated in any brief.

What Card Types Are Available?

Samsung currently offers a range of Now Brief cards, each pulling from a different app or sensor:

• Weather: Current conditions, hourly forecast, and severe weather alerts based on your location.
• Calendar: Your next few events, with reminders and travel time to the first appointment.
• Commute: Real-time traffic, estimated travel time, and alternative routes for your saved home-to-work route.
• Sleep: Last night’s sleep duration, stages, and score from Samsung Health (requires a Galaxy Watch or phone-based sleep tracking).
• Workout: Summary of your latest workout, including steps, active time, and calories burned.
• News: Top headlines from Samsung Free or your preferred news sources.
• Stock: Price changes and market summaries for stocks you’ve added to your watchlist.
• Reminders: Upcoming reminders and to-do items from the Reminder app.
• SmartThings: Status of connected home devices, like lights or thermostat, and quick controls.

Not all cards are available in every region or on every device. For instance, the Stock card may be absent in countries where Samsung Free doesn’t offer that service. You can check which cards are enabled by going to Now Brief settings and seeing which toggles are present.

How Now Brief Learns Your Routine

Now Brief uses on-device machine learning to analyze your usage patterns. It learns when you typically wake up, leave for work, and go to bed, then schedules briefs accordingly. It also uses location data to determine when you’re commuting and can adjust the commute card’s timing based on traffic. The more you use your phone, the more accurate the briefs become. Samsung states that the data is processed locally on the device and not sent to Samsung servers, which is a key privacy feature. However, some cards like News or Stock may require an internet connection to fetch content, but that data is fetched directly from the source, not through Samsung’s AI.

If you find that a brief appears at the wrong time, you can manually adjust the schedule in settings. For example, if you wake up at 6 AM but your morning brief shows at 7 AM, change the Morning brief time to 6:00. You can also set different schedules for weekdays and weekends.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

Users often report a few issues with Now Brief, and most have straightforward fixes:

• Now Brief not showing on lock screen: Go to Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Now Brief and ensure the toggle is on. Also, make sure you have the latest One UI update installed.
• Cards not updating: Pull down on the Now Brief screen to refresh. If that doesn’t work, restart your phone or check that the relevant apps (Samsung Health, Calendar, etc.) have background data enabled.
• Commute card shows wrong time: Re-enter your home and work addresses in the Commute card settings, and make sure your location is turned on.
• Sleep data missing: Ensure you’ve enabled sleep tracking in Samsung Health and that your watch or phone is syncing properly.
• Now Brief draining battery: The feature uses some battery due to location and sensor access. You can reduce frequency by turning off cards you don’t need or setting brief schedule to fewer times per day.

If none of these work, try clearing the cache of the Now Brief app (Settings > Apps > Now Brief > Storage > Clear Cache). This won’t delete your customization, but it may resolve glitches.

Now Brief vs. Google At a Glance

Now Brief is often compared to Google’s At a Glance widget, which appears on Pixel phones and many Android devices. While both show contextual info, there are key differences:

• Customization: Now Brief allows you to reorder cards and choose which ones appear, while At a Glance is more limited—you can toggle some categories but not reorder them.
• Data sources: Now Brief integrates deeply with Samsung apps (Samsung Health, SmartThings, Samsung Free), while At a Glance pulls from Google services (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps).
• Schedule: Now Brief has explicit time-based briefs (morning, commute, etc.), whereas At a Glance updates continuously and doesn’t have a scheduled brief concept.
• Availability: At a Glance is available on all Android devices with Google apps, while Now Brief is exclusive to Samsung devices with One UI 7.

If you’re already invested in Samsung’s ecosystem, Now Brief is more useful. If you rely on Google services, At a Glance might be better. You can actually use both simultaneously—Now Brief on the lock screen and At a Glance as a home screen widget—but that may be redundant.

Privacy and Safety Considerations

Since Now Brief processes personal data like location, health, and calendar, it’s important to understand privacy implications. Samsung claims the AI processing is done on-device, meaning your data isn’t uploaded to the cloud for analysis. However, some cards (like News or Stock) fetch content from the internet, and that connection is made from your device, not via Samsung’s servers. You can also disable specific cards if you’re uncomfortable with the data they use. For example, if you don’t want Now Brief to know your commute, turn off the Commute card. Additionally, you can clear Now Brief’s learning data by going to Settings > Now Brief > Reset Now Brief data, which will erase your usage patterns and start fresh.

It’s also worth noting that Now Brief respects your existing app permissions. If you haven’t granted location access to Samsung Health, the Sleep card won’t have location data (though it doesn’t need it). You can review and revoke permissions for Now Brief itself in Settings > Apps > Now Brief > Permissions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Now Brief available on all Samsung phones?

No, Now Brief is currently available on Galaxy S24 series and newer, as well as Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, running One UI 7. Samsung has said it may roll out to older models like the S23 series in future updates, but there’s no official timeline. You can check if your phone has it by looking for the Now Brief icon in the app drawer or in lock screen settings.

Can I add custom cards to Now Brief?

Not directly. Samsung doesn’t allow third-party apps to create Now Brief cards. However, you can customize which built-in cards appear and their order. Some apps like Samsung Health and SmartThings have their own settings that affect what appears in their respective cards.

Does Now Brief work without a Samsung account?

Yes, you can use Now Brief without signing into a Samsung account. Features like Weather and Calendar work fine. However, some cards like News may require a Samsung Free account to personalize content. You can use Now Brief as a guest, but you’ll miss out on synced data across devices.

Why is my Now Brief not showing sleep data?

The Sleep card requires sleep tracking data from Samsung Health. Ensure you have sleep tracking enabled in Samsung Health and that you’ve worn your Galaxy Watch or kept your phone on your bed. Also, check that the Sleep card is toggled on in Now Brief settings. If it still doesn’t show, restart your phone or clear Now Brief’s cache.

Can I turn off Now Brief completely?

Yes, you can disable Now Brief entirely by going to Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Now Brief and turning off the toggle. This will remove the Now Brief widget from the lock screen and home screen. You can re-enable it anytime without losing your customization.

Does Now Brief use a lot of battery?

Now Brief uses some battery due to location and sensor access, but Samsung has optimized it to be minimal. If you notice significant drain, you can reduce the number of cards or the frequency of briefs. Turning off location for Now Brief (if you don’t need commute) can also help.

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