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Opinion | It's about time we got better mobile hotspot controls in One UI

One UI is a brilliant skin by all metrics. (Source; Samsung)
One UI is a brilliant skin by all metrics. (Source; Samsung)
Samsung's One UI skin is generally hailed as one of the best OEM skins available right now, and is packed full with in-depth power-user features. All of that seems to be sorely missing in one segment: mobile hotspot, with Samsung's mobile hotspot controls being one of the most bare-bones of all Android skins.

Samsung's software has come a long way from how it was half a decade ago. The progression from the disturbingly ugly TouchWiz to Samsung Experience, to One UI is as impressive as it gets in the software space. The fact that One UI 2.1 is widely regarded as one of the best skins out there is a testament to that fact, but it'd be even better with one addition: More in-depth mobile hotspot controls.

My phone runs One UI 2.1, so I'm on the latest version of Samsung's skin. There are just no controls for mobile hotspot. Here are what the mobile hotspot settings look like on (an admittedly old version of) MIUI. EMUI is even more thorough.

It's easy to see that options are full-fledged and provide plenty of control to users. There are options to block connected users entirely, kick them off the network temporarily, and set a maximum number of connections. 

On my S10+, however, things are a lot less...robust. There's no option to do any of the aforementioned. Controls are incredibly simplistic, and all you can do are set your hotspot name, password, and preferred bands. There's no setting to block users or kick them off your network. 

It's almost infuriating, as One UI has plenty of power-user controls and features. The Goodlock app suite comes to mind. I have no idea why the mobile hotspot menu is an entirely different affair. Of course, it's easy to point out that most people, particularly in the US, don't use mobile hotspot at all, but better controls would still be nice for those of us who use the feature. 

Are there other features you'd love to see on One UI? Let us know in the comments below!

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 05 > It's about time we got better mobile hotspot controls in One UI
Ricci Rox, 2020-05-31 (Update: 2020-05-31)