A Now Bar update for Samsung devices added support for animated scores during the 2026 World Cup matches.
The Now Bar has faced some scrutiny since its inception in One UI 7. It was, at the time, limited to Samsung apps and select Google apps on the lock screen. When the Galaxy Z Fold 7 series rolled around with One UI 8, things shifted a bit, and Now Bar became more useful for sports, weather, and third-party apps.
Samsung is expanding the Now Bar’s capabilities with support for Google Sports scores during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The changelog states that the Now Bar will provide new UI animations for goal celebrations and key moments. The update has been spotted on devices running One UI 8.5, though it may roll out to older devices, too.
Samsung doesn’t detail what the animations will look like in the changelog, but the animations have already surfaced on Google’s blog and in a recent Android Authority post. Google recently detailed several ways users will be able to use Gemini and Google Search to keep up with the match, and the first animation shows up in a Search overview.
There are two more hidden main animations: a confetti celebration and a red card. It seems that the first animation will appear when a team wins, while ball hitting the back of the net will be for a scored goal. The red card is probably the most exciting one – props to Samsung for going beyond the basics with the Now Bar score animations.
It’s unclear how they’ll appear during AOD, but Google’s video clearly shows an animation appearing over the live notification in the notification shade. It’s an upgraded experience over the traditional tick-up in score we usually see during sports-oriented live notifications.
Samsung is cutting it close on this one. The 2026 World Cup group matches begin on Thursday, June 11. The new version of Now Bar is rolling out now without any additional changes made.
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