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AuraDisplay vs Samsung Edge Lighting: Which Notification Light?
By the llcloud team 5 min read
The short answer
Keep Samsung's Edge Lighting, now Lighting effect, if you want a free alert at the moment a notification arrives and no extra permissions. Add AuraDisplay if you want a light that stays on the lock screen and AOD until you read it, or a ring around the punch hole camera.
Samsung Edge Lighting (called Lighting effect in One UI 8) is free, built in and plays an edge animation when a notification pops up, then stops. AuraDisplay is a third-party app that keeps a glowing ring around the camera or a glow along the edge on the lock screen and Always On Display until you open or clear the notification. Many Galaxy owners use both.
If you have a Galaxy phone, you already own one notification light: Samsung's Edge Lighting, which One UI 8 reworked into Lighting effect. So why would you install another? This comparison, as of October 2026, sets out what each one does, where Samsung's built-in option is the better choice, and where AuraDisplay adds something it cannot.
How do AuraDisplay and Samsung Edge Lighting compare?
| Feature | Samsung Edge Lighting / Lighting effect | AuraDisplay |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ✓ Free, built in | ✓ Free, Pro is a one-time purchase |
| No install or permissions | ✓ | ✗ Needs notification access and accessibility |
| Plays when a notification arrives | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stays lit until you read it | ✗ Plays for a set time | ✓ |
| Ring around the punch hole camera | ✗ | ✓ |
| Edge glow | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shows on Always On Display | Depends on One UI version | ✓ On AOD-capable screens with AOD on |
| Color per app | ✓ On some versions | ✓ Automatic from each app's icon |
| Color per contact | ✗ | ✓ Pro (BETA) in WhatsApp, Samsung Messages and more |
| Several apps at once | ✗ | ✓ Pro, up to three |
| Quiet hours and auto-dismiss | ✗ Uses Do Not Disturb | ✓ Pro |
| Works on non-Samsung phones | ✗ | ✓ Any Android 8.0+ |
| Never closed by battery limits | ✓ Part of the system | ✗ Can be closed like any app |
What does Samsung Edge Lighting do well?
It is already there, it costs nothing, and it never asks for anything. Because it is part of One UI, Samsung's battery manager will never put it to sleep, and there is no accessibility service for a cleaner app to switch off.
To set it up on One UI 8, open Settings > Notifications > Notification pop-up style and tap Add lighting effect. Samsung notes that some effects are limited with the Detailed pop-up style. On older versions the menu was called Edge lighting style, and on much older phones it lived under Display > Edge screen. The wording differs by version, so search Settings for "lighting" if your menus differ.
For someone who mostly has the phone face up on the desk and wants to notice a message the moment it arrives, this may be all you need.
Where does Samsung Edge Lighting fall short?
The effect plays and then ends. Samsung's own page describes a duration setting, which tells you what it is designed for: an alert in the moment. If you were in the kitchen when the message came in, nothing on the screen tells you it happened, apart from small icons on Always On Display.
That is the job the old LED did and Edge Lighting does not. Our Samsung notification light guide shows all three built-in Galaxy options side by side.
What does AuraDisplay add?
AuraDisplay is a persistent light. When a notification arrives, a ring wraps the punch hole camera, or a glow runs along the edge, in that app's icon color. It stays on the lock screen and Always On Display until you open or clear the notification.
- The camera becomes the LED. Almost every recent Galaxy S and A model has a punch hole, and AuraDisplay finds it automatically. You can nudge the position and scale if needed.
- Colors without setup. WhatsApp glows green and Gmail red, read straight from each app's icon.
- Per-contact colors (Pro, BETA) in WhatsApp, Google Messages, Samsung Messages, Telegram, Viber, Messenger and Instagram. It depends on what each app shares about the sender, so a contact may sometimes light in the app's color.
- Several apps at once (Pro), with rings stacking around the camera.
- Quiet hours, auto-dismiss, battery-aware dimming and a charging indicator in Pro.
On AOD the light holds a steady glow. An AOD screen refreshes about once a second, so no app can animate smoothly there, and a new light may take up to about a second to appear. Animations play again when you wake the phone. Our guide to seeing notifications on Always On Display explains why.
What are AuraDisplay's downsides?
Fair is fair. AuraDisplay is an extra app with two permissions to grant, notification access and an accessibility service. Samsung shows a warning for every accessibility app. AuraDisplay uses the service only to draw over the lock screen and AOD and never reads message content, but it is still a step Edge Lighting does not need.
It can also be closed by Samsung's battery management. A force-stop switches off its accessibility service, and Android does not let an app switch that back on by itself. AuraDisplay sends a notification so you can turn it back on in one tap, and its Keep AuraDisplay Running setting helps prevent it. Our guide to stop Samsung killing apps covers the battery settings worth changing, and why Android kills background apps explains why it happens at all.
Can I use both?
Yes, and many people do. Leave Samsung's Lighting effect on for the moment a notification arrives, and set AuraDisplay to ring mode so the camera keeps glowing afterwards. Using edge mode in both at once can look busy, so pick one for the edge. If you are also weighing other apps, see AuraDisplay vs aodNotify, and if you want an edge glow on a phone that is not a Galaxy, see edge lighting on any Android phone.
Which should you choose?
- Pick Samsung Edge Lighting if you want a free alert at the moment of arrival, you do not want to grant permissions, and you usually see your phone when notifications land.
- Pick AuraDisplay if you want the light to still be there when you come back, you want a ring around the punch hole, or you want different colors per contact.
- Use both if you want the best of each: Samsung's effect for the moment and AuraDisplay's ring for the minutes after.
For a broader look at every option on any phone, read our guide to getting a notification light on Android.
Sources
Questions
Is AuraDisplay better than Samsung Edge Lighting?
They do different jobs. Edge Lighting is an alert that plays when a notification arrives, and it is free and needs no setup. AuraDisplay is a reminder that keeps glowing until you deal with the notification, on the lock screen and Always On Display. If you often come back to your phone after a notification has already played, AuraDisplay fills that gap.
Can I use Edge Lighting and AuraDisplay together?
Yes. Samsung's Lighting effect plays when the pop-up appears, and AuraDisplay's ring or edge glow takes over afterwards and stays until you read the notification. If both use edge mode they can look busy together, so many people pair Samsung's effect with AuraDisplay's ring around the camera instead.
Does Samsung Edge Lighting work with the screen off?
On older One UI versions there was a setting to show Edge Lighting while the screen was off. In One UI 8 the feature became Lighting effect inside Notification pop-up style, tied to pop-up notifications. Samsung's guide does not say whether it plays on Always On Display, so check on your own phone. AuraDisplay draws on AOD when AOD is on.
Why does AuraDisplay need accessibility when Edge Lighting does not?
Edge Lighting is part of One UI, so it can draw anywhere. Third-party apps cannot. Android only lets an app draw over the lock screen and Always On Display through an accessibility service. AuraDisplay uses it for that alone, reads only app names and icon colors, and never stores or shares notification content.
