Everything New in Samsung’s One UI 8 (so Far)
With Google expected to release the next major Android update for its Pixel phones next month, Samsung is catching up: Its top-end phones received updates to One UI 7 (based on Android 15) this year, and now a beta of One UI 8 (based on Android 16 ) is available to Galaxy S25 owners living in the US, UK, Germany, or South Korea.
While there aren’t any revolutionary new features here—at least not yet—Samsung is promising a “new era of software intelligence” and a “true multimodal AI agent” (which, as far as I can tell, means a few tweaks to the Now Bar and Now Brief ).
If you’re in the right country and have the right device, you can join the One UI 8 beta now. The usual caveats about beta software apply: expect bugs, and don’t run betas on devices you already own (you may notice some apps crashing or not working properly).
How to Join the One UI 8 Beta Testing
Open the Samsung Members app on your phone (you can redownload it if you previously deleted the app ) and sign in with your Samsung account details. Scroll down to the Discover tab, and somewhere in there you should see a Beta Program bar you can tap on.
From there, tap One UI 8 S25 Beta , read the information provided, and tap Join . After a few seconds, you’ll get confirmation that you’re in and see a screen where you can Check for software updates . Once the software is ready, you’ll be prompted to reboot your phone to install it.
Samsung hasn’t said anything about which other phones will be able to join the beta yet, but given that One UI 8 is expected to launch in full in July (likely on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7), the program is unlikely to extend beyond the Galaxy S25 phones.
You can leave the One UI 8 beta at any time by tapping Beta Program > One UI 8 S25 Beta in the Members app, then tapping the three dots (top-right corner), then tapping Leave One UI 8 S25 Beta .
What’s New in One UI 8
There’s official information from Samsung about what’s new in One UI 8, as well as features that users have already noticed during testing. Keep in mind that features may come and go during testing, so none of these changes are guaranteed to be in place when One UI 8 is ready for mass adoption.
Bluetooth upgrades with Auracast for sharing audio streams across multiple devices, plus improved Quick Share capabilities: full-screen modes for sending and receiving files and support for QR code sharing. You can access Quick Share with a single tap of a button in Quick Settings.
Several apps are getting visual updates. These include Weather, which adopts a less cartoonish aesthetic with more translucent elements, and Files, which adds a recently edited row and shifts some elements around. Reminders is also getting a small update with the introduction of suggested reminders and more category filters at the top (like Completed and Placed ).
You’ll also notice a refreshed menu in the Samsung Internet app if you tap the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner. Shortcuts can be customized, pages can be shared more easily, and — like One UI 8 as a whole — the overall interface feels a little more modern and fresh.
Samsung says it has added more resolution options for Samsung DeX , and there are more preset routines to choose from in the Modes and Routines menu in the Settings menu. There are also improvements to the Secure Folder: apps can now be moved there and hidden from the app drawer, and the Secure Folder can also be hidden entirely.
Users are noticing all sorts of other changes: headphone controls on the lock screen, more customization for home screen widgets, more options for split-screen mode, and a bunch of other small changes. There will undoubtedly be more of these as the beta continues.
As for Galaxy AI, I don’t see much change. It looks like the Now Bar can now show calls and Do Not Disturb modes, but that’s it. There may be more to come: hidden code suggests that you’ll soon be able to read out a Now Brief, but that feature hasn’t launched yet.