If you use Samsung products, especially the company's smartwatches, two names you've probably seen are “Tizen” and “One UI”. Together, are responsible for the Galaxy smartwatch software, But what is the difference? And why does your watch need both?
By diving into the section “About the watch” from the Settings menu on your Galaxy watch, One UI and Tizen version numbers to be revealed. Each of these software layers plays an important role. Let's take a look at what each one does.
What is Tizen?
Tizen is equivalent to Android in that it is an open source operating system based on Linux. The first version of Tizen was released in 2012, but it was not available on a real consumer device until the Samsung Gear smartwatch 2 on 2014.
There are many similarities between Android and Tizen. Both operating systems receive firmware updates, can be used on a multitude of different device types and are free for developers to build apps and experiences.
Since Tizen is an open source operating system, any manufacturer can use it for their devices. Despite this, unlike android, found in devices from dozens of manufacturers, Tizen is mainly used by just one: Samsung.
Samsung originally planned to use Tizen on smartphones and tablets. The company released a handful of Tizen phones, but with time, that plan was abandoned and the operating system (SO) used almost exclusively for Samsung portable devices and smart TVs.
As operating system, Tizen is partially as useful as the apps it can run. On a Samsung device with Tizen, Apps can be downloaded from the Galaxy Apps store. Applications must be specifically created for Tizen to be available on Tizen devices.
What is a user interface?
One UI is the Samsung overlay that is responsible for the Sight of the software. On a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, One UI lives on Android, and on a Galaxy smart watch, One UI lives on Tizen.
If we believe in Tizen or Android as a canvas, you can think of One UI as painting. The operating system is responsible for the main functionality, while the overlay customizes how everything looks. The operating system can exist without an overlay, but the overlay can't exist without an operating system.
One UI is Samsung's third largest software overlay. Samsung's early Android devices included a software overlay called “TouchWiz”, which was later renewed and named simply “Samsung Experience”. On 2019, it was redesigned again and the name was changed to “A user interface”.
One thing that is different from One UI compared to the previous overlays is that it is enabled on smart watches. Samsung's first smartwatches were powered by pure Tizen without any overlap. On 2019, Samsung also added One UI to smartwatches.
How do Tizen and One UI work together?
As mentioned previously, One UI can only exist on top of one operating system. That operating system is Android (phones and tablets) o Tizen (Smart Watches).
Let's look at Samsung Galaxy smart watches as an example. When a notification appears on your watch, Tizen is what enables that communication between your phone and your watch. A user interface is responsible for the appearance of the notification.
Tizen and One UI exist together in Galaxy smartwatches, but they are also separated. Each software layer can be upgraded regardless of the other. If you look in the software section “Regarding Watch”, you will see that each one has its own version number.
Tizen updates are generally larger and will include important features, while One UI updates bring visual tweaks and smaller improvements (there are some exceptions to this rule). Although they can be updated separately, it is common for Tizen and One UI updates to be included together.
At the end of the day, both Tizen and One UI have many features, but putting them together is what creates a great software experience.
