If you own a Samsung Galaxy S24 device, then you’re in luck – Samsung recently announced that it’s finally giving users a chance to use One UI 7 via its beta program, which will feature new updates and tweaks to the company’s Android skin. One UI 7 joins other custom Android platforms such as OnePlus’ OxygenOS, Xiaomi’s HyperOS and Honor’s MagicOS (to name a few), which have likewise started rolling out countless smartphones worldwide.
With that in mind, the One UI 7 beta will be initially open for Samsung Galaxy S24 devices starting on 5th December, and Samsung adds that it’s planning a gradual roll-out for more Galaxy smartphones soon. The beta program will also be available for users in Germany, India, Korea, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. But what can we expect from it? Let’s take a quick look.
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New AI Tricks
AI (unsurprisingly) is at the forefront of One UI 7, and Samsung hasn’t exactly been discreet with pushing AI features towards its users. This comes in the way of productivity, for example – One UI 7 will feature AI-based assistive writing tools, which let users check their grammar and spelling when typing out messages, and even summarize content that’s viewed on their devices. Users can also use AI to summarize long notes into bulleted snippets, saving time when catching up on important stuff.
For calls, One UI 7 will also come with a feature that will allow users to record phone calls as they happen and simultaneously transcribe the calls, serving as a means to take notes and highlights without manually doing so. There is a limit as Samsung says that the feature will be limited to 20 languages for the time being.
Notifications and User Interface
One UI has always had a distinct look when compared to other Android interfaces with its bright colours and vibrant UI elements, and Samsung says that it’s made some tweaks to how the interface looks overall. Users can expect the One UI 7 beta to feature changes to app icons and widgets for example, and there’s now added support for vertical scrolling within the main app drawer, which makes it more similar with other Android skins.
These changes extend to in-app UX and controls. Take for example the camera app, which now swaps around the camera buttons, controls and other modes for easier photo/video preview and user access. Additionally, the Pro and Pro video modes feature a reorganized manual settings layout, in addition to tweaks to zoom controls.
One UI 7 also features the “Now Bar,” a new addition to how users can interact with notifications on their Samsung phone. Now Bar will work as the central component of One UI 7’s modified notification setup, allowing users to view their most important notifications at once. The Now Bar will also highlight relevant tasks and activities on a user’s device, which should be interesting to see given that other brands have adopted similar functionality.
