Release date, beta timeline, confirmed features and more

Update: December 6, 2024 (11:00 AM ET): We’ve updated this Samsung One UI 7 hub with details about the officially confirmed features and the fact that the first betas are now live for the Galaxy S24 series.

Samsung’s software experience has undergone a remarkable transformation since the arrival of One UI. Once considered a bloated and sluggish overlay, it has evolved into one of the most polished and intuitive Android experiences on the market. Samsung has officially announced One UI 7, detailing its features alongside the platform upgrade to Android 15. Here’s what we know about the upcoming update!

One UI 7: Release date and name

• One UI 7.0 (Android): December 2024
• One UI 6.0 (Android 14): October 2023
• One UI 5.0 (Android 13): October 2022
• One UI 4.0 (Android 12): November 2021

Samsung officially released One UI 7 on December 5, 2024, marking the end of a rather long anticipatory period since Android 15’s official launch some months ago.

However, this is when the One UI 7 beta program begins for the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung has mentioned that it will release the One UI 7 stable update with the Galaxy S25 next year.

The official One UI 7 release will start in Q1 of 2025 with upcoming Galaxy S series devices and will gradually roll out to other Galaxy devices.

This is quite different from previous years when the stable version rolled out shortly after the official launch of the new Android update.

Samsung is beginning the One UI 7 rollout for devices with a One UI 7 beta program. So yes, there is a One UI 7 beta, starting with the Galaxy S24 series first. We expect Samsung to expand the beta program to its flagships, older flagships, mid-range, and budget devices, in that order.

The beta program is expected to run for a few weeks, with the aim of finding out critical bugs and issues. Once these are ironed out, the beta program will conclude and the stable update will be rolled out gradually to all users.

Beta sign-ups are handled through the Samsung Members app on your Galaxy device. Once you have signed up, you will likely receive an OTA update that installs the beta on your device. At the conclusion of the beta program, you will likely receive an update that jumps you over to the stable release.

Keep in mind that betas are inherently unstable and risky, and we do not recommend installing them on your daily driver smartphone. You should also ensure that you have backed up all your data as there are chances of data loss if you have to unexpectedly wipe data.

One UI 7 confirmed features

Through its official announcement, Samsung has confirmed the following features.

The new Now Bar allows users to receive important notifications without unlocking their devices. It highlights relevant activities across various features, such as Interpreter, Music, Recording, Stopwatch, and more.

Users can switch between their favorite camera buttons, controls, and modes right from the preview screen. The manual settings layout has been simplified for Pro mode and Pro Video mode.

Pro Video mode also gets a new zoom control that lets you control the zoom speed for smooth transitions.

Writing Tools can now be used without switching between applications, making it easier to summarize content, check spelling and grammar, and automatically format notes into bullet points.

When call recording is enabled, recorded calls will automatically be transcribed for reference later, with support for 20 languages.

Samsung is also boasting of these new security and privacy features:

• The Knox Matrix dashboard lets you see all connected devices like Galaxy mobiles, TVs, home appliances, and other smart devices, at a glance.
• Recovery method for device data transfers allows users to transfer recovered, private data to a new device by verifying the lock screen factor — whether pin, pattern, or password — of their previous device.
• With Credential Sync, users can now create and use passkeys to log into their Samsung Accounts. They can also safely sign into their TVs, AI Family Hub refrigerators, and more simply by using the fingerprint sensor on their smartphones.

We’ll have to install the beta to check out these changes from the official changelog.

Other features revealed before official announcements

In addition to these, Samsung’s Spanish website had also revealed several One UI 7 features ahead of the changelog. As Samsung discloses, One UI 7 will strongly focus on Galaxy AI, with “AI powering every step” and a “sophisticated new look.”

Samsung is showing off the new icons, the smart notification center, and the new lock screen with a quick view of ongoing activities in this official video:

Leaker Chun Bhai previously suggested that Samsung has made its own version of Apple’s Dynamic Island that will be included in One UI 7. The tipster also claims that Samsung has copied Apple’s Live Activities feature. We can see some of that in the video above.

Samsung is also highlighting that you can use AI to transform a sketch into an incredible image. The Sketch to Image feature is already available on recent Galaxy devices, but One UI 7 will bring more options like 3D Cartoon, Sketch, and Watercolor. Check it out in the official video below:

The fine print mentions that Sketch to Image requires a network connection and a Samsung Account login. Editing an image will result in a resized image of up to 12MP, and a visible watermark will be added to it to indicate that it has been generated with AI.

With One UI 7’s Portrait Studio feature, you can use AI to turn your portraits into artistic profile photos with themes like Comic, 3D Cartoon, and Sketch. Portrait Studio also requires a network connection and a Samsung Account login and results in a 9MP image with a visible watermark for AI.

One UI 7’s Live Effects feature allows you to add depth to your photos and give them perspective.

Samsung appears to be adding some child safety features to what appears to be the Galaxy Store in One UI 7. When purchasing apps, children’s accounts will need permission from guardian accounts.

Other features that Samsung Spain’s official One UI 7 page talks about include Circle to Search capabilities, Live Translate, and AI Zoom. However, these features are already available in One UI 6.1.1, so we’re unsure what new bits are being highlighted here. Similarly, the official One UI 7 page also highlights the Energy Score feature, but this was added with the One UI 6 Watch based on Wear OS 5 for Galaxy smartwatches, so it’s not a One UI 7 feature per se.

One UI 7 leaked features

We have a rough One UI 7 changelog to help give a picture of what to expect from the next update. Leaker Ice Universe posted the changelog on Weibo but deleted the post shortly thereafter.

Several notable visual changes are worth highlighting from this leaked changelog summary, such as new system app icons, a new battery icon and charging animation, a new camera app UI, and new animations.

Ice Universe also asserts that you can choose between separate or unified dropdown menus for notifications and quick settings. Other notable One UI 7 tweaks mentioned by the leaker include more desktop widgets, more lockscreen widgets, and large folder support.

New UI elements

A rumor from tipster Chun Bhai claims that the next iteration of One UI will be heavily inspired by iOS 18. One way it will mimic Apple’s OS is by giving its icons a more roundish, 3D-like design. Lock screen widgets could also get the rounded treatment. The tipster provided a few screenshots of what the redesign could look like.

The tipster also shared an image where the user can choose the icon and widget style, which he compares to iOS 18. Interestingly, it looks like Samsung may have also changed the look of the battery icon to be pill-shaped.

Continuing to drip feed One UI 7 leaks, the tipster shared a couple of screenshots showing off a color palette theme. They also shared a look at the new lock screen UI.

SammyGuru spotted One UI 7 on some devices at Samsung’s developer conference in October, taking a photo of the new icons (seen below). We were also at the conference and can confirm that we saw these changes, including a tweaked battery icon.

YouTube channel Mobile Wala Bhai posted a One UI 7 hands-on video in late October. The video (which has since been deleted) reveals a more customizable lock screen, new app icons, and new home screen additions (including new and overhauled widgets). The clip also confirms more fluid task-switching animations. An earlier clip by the YouTuber also corroborates the new battery icon, overhauled camera interface, and a few other aforementioned changes.

Animations

Leaker Ice Universe posted a now-deleted video on Twitter showing the app-switching animations in One UI 7. Fortunately, Twitter user @TechKhaled_ saved the video.

Quick action

Apple’s iPhone has a feature called quick action, which brings up a menu of actions you can do with an app. It’s believed that Samsung will add a similar feature to its lock screen.

One oft-repeated claim is that Samsung’s notification panel will get separate dropdowns for notifications and quick settings. This change could feature notifications on the left and quick settings on the right. It’s said to work similarly to Xiaomi’s MIUI/HyperOS skins that you to swipe laterally to switch between the two pages.

These separate dropdown pages were confirmed via devices running One UI 7 at Samsung’s developer conference in October. SammyGuru first spotted these changes and took the photos seen above, but we also spotted them.

YouTuber Mobile Wala Bhai also highlighted these changes in his video and confirmed that you can return to a unified dropdown menu.

Ice Universe followed up with a video (seen above) showing off the separate quick settings and notifications menus. We also get a good look at the smoother, faster system animations.

New camera UI and photo features

The rumor from Chunvn8888 also claims that the camera app UI will be changed. The quick camera settings at the top of the screen may be relocated to the bottom, along with the camera modes. Additionally, it’s said that a shortcut will be added that expands multiple quick camera settings. The tipster adds that the UI has been tweaked for a more one-hand-friendly experience.

SamMobile confirmed most of these camera changes on a device running One UI 7 at Samsung’s developer conference. The settings menu in the viewfinder has indeed been shifted to the bottom of the screen and turned into a carousel.

Either way, these changes should make life easier if you’re shooting one-handed, particularly in portrait orientation.

AI features

According to Ice Universe, One UI 7 will add a very useful AI search feature to Samsung’s stock Gallery app. Similar to Ask Photos in Google Photos, the new Gallery app feature could allow Samsung users to search for specific images in a natural, descriptive way. Leaker Chun Bhai mentions that Galaxy AI will have a notification summary feature called AI notification.

The Galaxy Tab S9 series tablets are compatible with the Galaxy Tab S10 series keyboards, but owners of the older tablet can’t use the new keyboard’s Galaxy AI key. Fortunately, Samsung has quietly confirmed that the One UI 7 update will bring support for this AI key to the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

Android 15 features that could come to One UI 7

There’s a strong chance that many of the exciting new features debuting in Android 15 will make their way to Samsung devices as well. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these potential additions.

This feature, initially introduced in Android 14 QPR2 for Pixel devices, is making its way to the wider Android ecosystem with Android 15. It allows you to share or record a specific app window instead of your entire screen, boosting privacy and streamlining multitasking. While Samsung may implement this feature in its own way, we anticipate a similar function arriving in One UI 7.

Notification taming

Android 15 is also set to introduce a thoughtful “Notification Cooldown” feature. It automatically lowers the volume of repeated notifications from the same app, keeping your sanity in check. This could be a welcome addition to One UI 7’s notification management tools.

Sticky keys and Bounce keys

Google is already offering these features with Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2, but they will most likely be added to Android 15. Sticky Keys make it easier for users to execute keyboard shortcuts by keeping modifier keys (like Alt, Ctrl, and Shift) active even after they are released. Bounce keys prevent accidental repeated key presses, ideal for users with varying levels of motor control. We expect these helpful features to land on Samsung phones and tablets with the One UI 7.0 update.

Samsung boasts one of the most generous software support policies in the Android world, so it comes as no surprise that the list of devices expected to receive the One UI 7 update is reassuringly long. Virtually all Galaxy devices launched with Android 13 or newer out of the box qualify. Additionally, flagship and select mid-range devices released in or after 2021, which fall under Samsung’s four-generation update promise, should be included as well.

While Samsung is expected to release an official list of supported devices soon, we can extrapolate from historical patterns to say that these devices have a high probability of receiving One UI 7:

• All Galaxy S phones from the S21 series right up to the S24 series (including the FE editions)
• All Galaxy Z foldable devices, including the Fold 3, Flip 3, and all newer models
• Recent Galaxy tablets, including all models under the Tab S8 and S9 lineups
• The latest Galaxy A series phones (think A15, A25, A35, and A55) alongside their recent predecessors (A54, A34, A53, and A33)
• International models from the Galaxy F and M series

Potential AI upgrades and the integration of new Android 15 goodies make One UI 7 an exciting update. Couple that with Samsung’s class-leading support policy, and One UI 7 looks like a great reason to keep your Galaxy device or jump on the Samsung bandwagon. We hope to learn more about the rollout plans, and the complete One UI 7 changelog from Samsung in the coming days.