Accessing notifications on the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 is now easier

Samsung removed the home, back and recent apps buttons from the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. It added support for new gestures to make up for that. For example, you can swipe up and down anywhere on the home screen to launch the app drawer. Samsung could have offered a simple gesture to access the notifications panel but it didn't. It's making amends now.

You might find yourself stretching out your fingers to access the notifications on large handsets like the Galaxy Note 8 and the Galaxy S8+. You could configure the fingerprint sensor to open the notifications panel but many users dislike where the sensor is located. They find it equally hard to reach.

Samsung now provides a different method of accessing the notifications panel with the latest TouchWiz Home screen app update. The “Quick-open notification panel” toggle can be found in Settings > Display > Home screen.

Enable it and you can then swipe down anywhere on the home screen to pull down the notification panel. It eliminates the need to try and reach the top edge of the display to pull it down. Swiping up will launch the app drawer as before.

This will take some getting used to if you've become accustomed to swiping up and down on the home screen for the app drawer. Once you do, you'll appreciate this minor tweak.

You'll need version 6.1.50.1 of the Samsung TouchWiz Home. If you haven't received it over-the-air, you can download the APK from our apps page.

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

Via Phone apps Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Samsung Galaxy S8