With its One UI 7 update, Samsung is adding support for Live Notifications and the Now Bar, the companys take on the Live Activities functionality Apple has been building out on iPhone for a while. With the Galaxy S25 now official, Samsung is confirming additional support for apps including Google Maps.Apple introduced Live Activities on iPhone a few years ago with the goal being to show ongoing tasks through a notification thats surfaced on the lock screen and in the iPhones Dynamic Island. It took a while for the feature to be adopted by apps, but its become a very useful tool at this point, and something that Android hasnt had a good answer to.Samsung, with One UI 7 and its new Galaxy S25 series, is fully introducing Live Notifications and the Now Bar which replicate the functionality of Apples features. The Now Bar exists on Samsungs lock screen, showing data from supported apps before the phone is fully unlocked. Some functions, such as media playback, support an expanded UI with controls that work before unlocking. Others can just show some information and require the device to be unlocked for further interaction. Samsung will, at least for now, support eight apps.Sports from GoogleGoogle MapsSamsung HealthInterpreterClockVoice RecorderSamsung NotesEmergency SharingGoogle Maps was the only one that we were able to try out during out hands-on session this week, and it works very well. When navigation is ongoing, directions appear on the Now Bar on the lock screen, and in the notification tray as a Live Notification.The funny part of this is that, while its been in the works for ages, Google Maps still hasnt rolled out support for Live Activities on iPhone. Youll also see this UI for ongoing media playback and its uh pretty similar to Apples UI. The last feature that will leverage the Now Bar, but not Live Notifications, will be Samsungs Now Brief feature.Google is rumored to be working on a nearly identical feature for Android 16, meaning this could eventually end up in Pixel and other Android devices. In the meantime, its going to be available on Samsung devices running One UI 7.The Galaxy S25 series is now available for pre-order from Samsung.com, with up to $1,200 in savings, plus an additional $50 off when you click on our links and order within 30 minutes.More on Samsung:Follow Ben:Twitter/X,Threads, Bluesky, andInstagramAdd 9to5Google to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Google experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel