Samsung Plans Major Free Feature Upgrade For Millions Of Galaxy Phones - Forbes
New One UI 9 beta builds for the Galaxy S25, S24, S26 and S25 FE were all spotted within hours of each other this week, with the S25 public beta appearing imminent. The S25 build is the one most Galaxy owners have been waiting for. The Galaxy S24 series and Galaxy S25 FE are slightly behind but progressing.
New One UI 9 beta builds for the Galaxy S25, S24, S26 and S25 FE were all spotted within hours of each other this week, with the S25 public beta appearing imminent. One UI 9 brings Now Nudge, My FanCam, improved Bixby and AI privacy tools — but not every device will get Gemini Intelligence. The Galaxy S26 FE launching August 27th may be the first real test of where Samsung draws that line.
After originally launching with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series on July 22nd alongside a host of new camera and AI agent skills, One UI 9 looks close to being released to millions of Galaxy phones, tablets and watches.
Samsung update tracker Tarun Vats spotted new One UI 9 beta builds for five different device families this week, including the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S25, Galaxy S24, Galaxy S25 FE and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, all of which received new test builds within hours of each other.
The latest S26 build (ZZHC) suggests Samsung is preparing a sixth beta. The S25 build is the one most Galaxy owners have been waiting for. A new ZZHC build appearing on Samsung’s servers this week suggests the company is running final checks before opening the public program.
The S24 and S25 FE builds confirm both devices are progressing toward their own public beta programs.
The Galaxy S26 series is the closest to a stable release. Beta 6 appears to be the next step after the fifth beta dropped last week, which was originally delayed.
The Galaxy S25 series public beta looks genuinely imminent. The internal build cleared Google Play Protect certification last week, and the new ZZHC build this week suggests Samsung is running final checks.
Once a build reaches this stage, it may be days rather than weeks before the public program opens. Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra owners should check the Samsung Members app regularly for a beta invitation.
The Galaxy S24 series and Galaxy S25 FE are slightly behind but progressing. Both have new builds in testing, with public betas expected to follow the S25 program.
While One UI 9.0 is still rolling out, Samsung is already working on the next release. A leak spotted by tipster Fahad Ali Javed, via SamMobile ,reveals that One UI 9.5 is being developed with a "My Custom Widget" feature that allows users to pull data from Samsung apps like Calendar and Messages into a personalised widget with a modular layout. It’s likely based on Android 17's own Create Your Own Widget tool.
One UI 9 will ship with minimal design changes, but One UI 9.5 looks set to bring the major visual overhaul when it lands on the Galaxy S27 next year.
The headline new features are Now Nudge, which proactively suggests the next logical action based on what you’re doing, like opening your calendar when you’re texting about a plan. There’s also My FanCam, which lets you film a wide crowd shot and then go back to spotlight a specific person in the Gallery app.
Photo Assist now accepts voice instructions rather than typed requests. AI Privacy Alerts flag apps that are over-accessing location data or running background permissions they shouldn't need, and a new AI Assistant Activity log shows exactly which apps your AI has accessed and when.
Horizontal Lock, one of the Galaxy S26's camera highlights, is also coming to the S25 series via One UI 9 according to internal builds spotted by SammyFans.
The Quick Panel has been redesigned with more customisation options. There's also an improved Bixby that can answer questions about the device and complete tasks like turning on a mobile hotspot when asked in natural language.
It's hard to know which devices get which features, as some will be reserved for current flagships to differentiate between newer and older devices.
Samsung’s own teaser for the Galaxy S26 FE suggests MyFanCam and Horizontal Lock are coming to that device, which suggests Samsung isn’t reserving those features exclusively for the S26 flagship line. This is likely good news for S25 and S24 owners waiting on the same update.
Not every phone getting One UI 9 will get all of it. The Galaxy S26 FE launching on August 27th could become the first Galaxy device to ship with One UI 9 but without Gemini Intelligence. This is Google's new agentic AI toolkit that completes actions on your behalf with minimal input. Google's official requirements list 12GB of RAM as the minimum, and the S26 FE is expected to launch with 8GB.
Samsung and Google have both declined to confirm where exactly the Gemini Intelligence cutoff falls. The S26 FE’s launch next week will answer that question for millions of Galaxy owners wondering whether their device will get Samsung and Google’s most important AI feature in One UI 9.