Samsung has announced it has launched the One UI 9 beta, initially for Galaxy S26 smartphone owners, with the company promising a focus on creativity, personalisation, accessibility and security.
The new user interface, which sits on top of Android, will roll to all owners of recent Galaxy devices as the year progresses. Right now, only Galaxy S26 series owners who have access to the beta program can take One UI 9 for a spin.
The key updates include updates to Samsung Notes, which brings in more pen styles and decorative tapes. The new Contacts app has a meaningless feature that enables personalised profile cards to be made with AI. I mean, just use a photo, right?
Samsung is updating the Quick Panel, offering users more layout customisation options including the ability to independently adjust brightness, sound and media player controls. From a security standpoint, Samsung is now proactively warning users when threads are abound from malicious or insecure apps.
“One UI 9 also introduces enhanced protection against suspicious apps and potential threats: when new high-risk apps are detected, it now warns users, blocks execution and installation, and recommends deletion through security policy updates,” Samsung says in a blog post.
Furthermore, accessibility is getting a boost. The Mouse Key speed will now be adjustable, while the TalkBack feature combines the best of Google and Samsung features. For those with vision issues, a Text Spotlight feature has been added to “display selected text larger or more clearly in a floating window.”
If this sounds a little underwhelming as a feature set, fear not, Samsung is likely to add updates as the beta progresses. One of those is probably new Gemini Intelligence features that Google announced earlier this week as part of Android Show announcements. Those include agentic features, like automatically filling out forms. Google and Samsung have already said their phones get first dibs.
