Samsung 'exploring new UI' for Galaxy S5, looks like TouchWiz for grown ups

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Samsung is planning a visual overhaul for the TouchWiz user interface it slaps over the Android operating system in time for the Galaxy S5, judging by purported leaked screenshots.

In the latest @evleaks expose, the prolific leak artist wrote "Samsung exploring new smartphone UI," to accompany pics of a revamped lock and home screen and what may be a new content exploration screen.

What's immediately apparent is that the UI pictured within the screenshots appears to have adjusted the typeface and altered the icons in favour of a leaner, more stylish and more grown up approach.

The lock screen also appears to be displaying the progress of a bike ride, complete with distance and heart rate, perhaps prefacing a new built-in fitness tracker that could be built into the Galaxy S5.

The same lock screen also shows a revamped window showcasing the time, location, weather and alarm status and it appears that users will be able to place multiple live widgets to access from a locked state.

The final screenshot shows what appears to be a HTC Blinkfeed-like UI tool, showing a variety of live content, including social media check ins and news, in a scrolling format.

Time for a change

While there's no way of knowing whether Samsung plans to implement these changes when it launches the Galaxy S5, or whether the leaked shots are simply the product of an internal experiment.

The TouchWiz UI has split opinion for years and Samsung showed with the launch of the Magazine UX within the new Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 and the Galaxy Tab Pro range that it isn't afraid to shake things up a little.

TouchWiz is well overdue for a new lick of paint, so we'd imagine most users would welcome the changes, especially if they're accompanied by the rumoured premium metallic casing.