Samsung’s upcoming One UI 7.0 beta is just on the horizon and going from what has been leaked so far, it will bring a major overhaul to Samsung devices that we haven’t seen in the past few iterations. A lot of details are already available on the internet, some concrete ones and some still rumors. In this read, we have compiled everything we know about One UI 7 and all the features we can expect from Samsung’s Android skin.
One UI 7: Release Date
The beta for the next version of One UI was supposed to start in early August. But it got pushed to later this month. Probably waiting on the official launch of Android 15 before they roll out the beta.
Going by previous release dates, we can expect a stable version of the update to come out somewhere around September or October for the latest Galaxy S24 lineup. It will then make its way slowly down to older and other midrange devices. Not all features will be available for every device, especially Galaxy AI and demanding features that could get committed on budget devices.
One UI 7: Supported Devices
One UI 7 will come to a bunch of Samsung devices. Considering the long list of phones that Samsung has in its portfolio, it will push out the upcoming One UI 7 to this year’s flagships first, followed by its older devices. So, you can expect to receive One UI 7 and all of its features on the Galaxy S24 series, Z Fold 6, and Z Flip 6 before other devices.
You can check out the full list of eligible devices to get One UI 7 to learn more about the update’s availability.
One UI 7: List of All Expected Features
Going by the leaks and rumors circulating on X (formerly Twitter), there are plenty of design changes and new features that we’ll get to see with the One UI 7 update. Let’s take a closer look at these features and break them down one by one.
1. Redesigned Stock Icons
According to a leak by @chunvn8888, the default set of icons in One UI will see a complete redesign. They will feature more rounded iconography with distinct shades of colors that will make it easy for you to tell them apart. These new icons look quite refreshing from the current ones that we have grown used to. The change will be more prominent for Camera, Gallery, Settings, and Samsung Internet.
2. Bold View for Apps
Another feature taken right from iOS 18 is the bold view for app icons. Picking this option will expand the icon size and hide the app names. You can go back to the normal view with labels by selecting the Classic option.
3. New Quick Settings Panel
Along with icons, One UI 7 will also bring noticeable changes to the quick settings panel. From the image, you can see it has more rounded, pill-shaped blocks. With separate pills for brightness and volume. The quick settings toggle takes up less space now, but you can still expand them to show a detailed view.
4. Split Notifications Tray
In another move to blur the differences between Android and iOS, Samsung will be bringing a new option to show notifications on a separate page from quick settings. I imagine that you will have to pull down from the left side to show notifications and the right to bring up quick settings. You can, of course, show them in a typical merged view if you prefer that.
5. Dynamic Island Style Notifications
In a small video shared by Smartprix, we see another element taken from iOS that works just like the Dynamic Island. You’ll see a small pill-shaped notification on the left side of the status bar, which you can long press to expand. OnePlus implemented this feature already with the Oxygen OS 14 update, so we might see more Android OEMs adopting it soon.
6. Pill Shaped Battery Icon
While the status bar didn’t see any major changes, the battery indicator did get the rounded treatment like the rest of the One UI 7 interface. It has a pill-shaped design, with the battery percentage showing up inside.
7. Smoother UI Animations
Samsung will come with faster, more responsive app opening and closing animations. They have added interruptible animations in case you decide to close the app midway as it opens. Some new page return animations for the back gesture coming with Android 15 are also going to be available. This will go a long way to offer a more polished user experience.
8. App Lock
App lock is one of those features that is a must if you don’t want others to snoop around your phone when you hand your phone to them. Going by an X post, we should get to see a basic implementation of it in One UI 7.0.
I suppose it should let you lock apps using a passcode, password, or pattern with an option to unlock them with biometrics. It is still unknown whether Samsung will adopt the privacy space feature that is coming with Android 15.
9. Live Activities on Lock Screen
Samsung will be adapting Live activities from iOS for the lock screen on One UI 7. The feature will be called Control area, but it will work somewhat similar to Live activities. You will be able to track the progress of an ongoing song or your Uber ride. You can long-press it to expand and show more details if you want to.
10. Change Lock Screen Shortcuts
Given the emphasis on customization in One UI, it always bothered me that we couldn’t change the left and right lock screen shortcuts. Not without a Good Lock module, at least. But with the upcoming update, you will be able to add any shortcut that you want to quickly jump into from the lock screen. This is a great accessibility feature, and I am glad Samsung is finally adding it.
11. More Resizable Widgets
Lastly, we should get to see some new widgets both for the home and the lock screen with more resizable options. Currently, there are only a few widgets that you can add on the lock screen, so some new ones are surely going to be welcomed.
12. Cross Device Continuity
Samsung is the only Android manufacturer to create its own ecosystem. However, it has not been able to take advantage of it in any significant manner like Apple. This will change with Continuity notifications which will let you send notifications, incoming calls, or video calls to other Galaxy smartphones and devices signed in with the same Samsung account.
13. New Layout for Camera App
The camera icon isn’t the only thing that has received a redesign. One UI 7 also updates the layout of the camera app, bringing controls and all other options at the bottom section of the app. Options like flash, aspect ratio, timer, and settings, which used to be at the top, have now been shifted right above the camera shutter button.
Placing all the different camera modes like Portrait, Video, and Night Mode below the shutter. It leaves the top portion of the UI empty while making the options more reachable with one hand.
14. Bixby with LLM (Rumored)
Samsung is leaving no stone unturned in promoting its Galaxy AI features, which leads us to suspect that there is a possibility that we’ll see some version of Bixby with LLM capabilities. It could be an on-device AI model assisting with things like voice transcription, contextual replies, real-time translation, and call screening.
15. Dark Theme for App Icons (Rumored)
Another possible change that could be coming with One UI 7 is a dark theme for icons. This will be similar to what we have seen on iOS 18. Icons will take up a darker tone when you switch to the dark mode.
16. Vertical App Drawer (Rumored)
Samsung is also bringing a vertical app drawer with the next version of Samsung’s Android skin. However, it is only going to be available using a Good Lock module. This will be a typical vertically scrollable drawer with the search bar at the bottom making it one-hand friendly.
These all the features that we currently expect to roll out with One UI 7.0. There is no doubt that this is ramping up to be significant changes to the interface, and there is a lot of hype around it. When the beta drops, we are surely going to be the first ones to cover the update, so if you want the latest coverage, then keep checking back.
What do you think about One UI 7.0 and is there a particular feature you are most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.
