Samsung Galaxy S8 video shows TouchWiz no longer looks that horrible

Samsung’s official launch event for the much-awaited Galaxy S8 flagship is fast approaching, but the rumor mill is still in full swing.

Dedicated leak platform Slash Leaks has dug up yet another video of the upcoming premium handset and – although rather brief – it shows Samsung has finally tweaked its signature TouchWiz interface to appear slightly less obnoxious.

While the company’s previous flagships received high praise for their elegant design and silky smooth performance, TouchWiz remained one aspect that repeatedly attracted the harsh heckles of tech aficionados from across the globe.

A punishment suitable of the crime that is TouchWiz. https://t.co/q31l2OhxBT

— koush (@koush) February 17, 2017

But it seems the South Korean heavyweight has finally took it upon itself to address the criticism and touch up its interface.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

As you can observe in the video above, Samsung has significantly cleaned up the TouchWiz interface, making the overall design much more pleasing to the eye.

The default weather forecast widget – which traditionally resided in the upper left corner – has now been moved to the center. The other easily noticeable improvement is that the home screen app grid has been extended to accommodate five icons.

In all fairness, the ability to switch your grid preferences was first introduced with the Galaxy S6, but it seems Samsung has opted to set the five-app grid option as default for the S8, which is something I can certainly stand behind.

Gone too is the heinous ‘OK Google’ bar that, in my opinion, was perhaps the least aesthetically pleasing detail of TouchWiz – though chances are those who found it useful will still have the option to enable it.

For the other changes, watch the footage in the video section above – and don’t forget to let us know what you think down in the comments.

Samsung is scheduled to unveil the new and improved next week on March 29, but you will have to wait until late April for a chance to get your hands on the new S8.