One UI 5, the next major release of Samsung’s “skin” over the Android operating system, will be rolled out to galaxy devices over the coming weeks.
Initially developed to give people greater control over their mobile devices, One UI is designed to connect innovative hardware with intuitive software.
The new version, an updated skin over Android 13, will include the following new features, as provided by Samsung:
Personalisation
One UI 5 represents Samsung’s most personalised mobile experience yet, designed to give people greater options for tailoring their devices exactly how they’d like – and this begins with communication.
The new Bixby Text Call feature allows users to communicate in the manner that is most convenient to them. With Bixby Text Call, you can answer phone calls simply by typing a message. Samsung’s intelligent platform Bixby converts the text to audio and shares it directly with the caller on the line on your behalf, and shows you what the caller is saying by converting their voice to text. This feature is perfect for those moments when you need to communicate but can’t or can’t necessarily be heard, such as when in a library or at a noisy concert. With this feature, you can take your calls in any environment without being disruptive or missing a beat.
Lifestyle
What you need from your device can change throughout the day. The features you utilise for your morning routine to get you up and active might not be the same as what keeps you focused during the working day. With the Routines, you can trigger a sequence of actions on your device based on your activities, and with One UI 5’s Modes, you can create customised settings for different parts of your life from sleeping and relaxing to exercising and driving.
For example, while you’re exercising, your priority might be to mute notifications in order to stay in the zone and playing music. Alternatively, when it’s time for bed, turning off sounds and turning on Dark mode can help you wind down.
One UI 5 also offers a fresh, new look and feel that makes the user experience more welcoming and seamless. From bolder, simpler app icons to a streamlined colour scheme, Samsung has paid attention to the intricate details for a more engaging mobile experience.
Samsung also refined the notifications in One UI 5 to be more intuitive, making them effortless to read at a glance as well as offering more defined answer and decline buttons when receiving a call through the redesigned pop-up call display.
Beyond overall design aspects, personalisation and the ability to express oneself is also a key part of everyone’s mobile experience. In order to take this to the next level, One UI 5 now supports easy and diverse customisation directly within the lock screen. With just a few taps, you can trim a video to transform your most memorable moments into a moving tribute on your phone. You can make this lock screen feel even more customised by changing the wallpaper, clock style, and notification pop-ups all from one screen.
Mobile Experience
In addition to providing you with options to curate a customised look and feel for your device, One UI 5 also offers new features that help you get things done more efficiently. For example, widgets in One UI 5 come with exciting new options and the ability to keep your Home screen neat and tidy with new Stacked widgets. This new feature lets you drag and drop widgets on top of each other and swipe left or right to quickly and easily scroll through each one, to free up space on your Home screen and use it more efficiently.
In order to help further streamline mobile tasks and activities, One UI 5 also comes with new Smart suggestions for widgets. Based on your usage patterns and the context of your mobile activity, Smart suggestions automatically suggests apps and actions that make the mobile experience even more deeply personalised.
You can easily extract text from images and paste it into a note. Whether it’s quickly capturing event details from a poster you want to send to a friend, or easily saving a phone number from a business card, One UI 5 makes it easier than ever to be productive with smart text extraction.
Furthermore, you can also control all the devices connected to your smartphone in the new Connected devices menu, where you’ll be able to access all features that work with other devices such as Quick Share, Smart View and Samsung DeX. You also now get easy access to the Auto switch Buds menu, which lets you automatically switch your Buds from one device to another for more seamless inter-device operation.
Security
Samsung understands that there is no privacy without security, so in One UI 5, these two settings have been brought together in one clear, easy-to-navigate dashboard, making it easier than ever for you to keep your device protected and your sensitive information private.
This new Security and privacy dashboard has been designed to be as simple as possible to make quick and easy to understand your device’s status. With one quick glance, you can get a quick overview of your device’s security and find suggestions and warnings depending on the status.
To make sure your private information stays private, One UI 5 also features a new notification on the Share Panel2 that warns you if you’re about to unwittingly share a photo that contains potentially sensitive information such as an image of your credit or debit card, driver’s license, ID or passport.