One of the most anticipated updates from Samsung, the One UI 7.0 Beta, is finally rolling out, and it brings a major overhaul with an improved UI, animations, and features. While the One UI 7 update brings many features, there are still a few things missing, which are expected to roll out in later Beta updates. However, we have compiled a list of all current and upcoming One UI 7 features, so here’s everything you need to know.
One UI 7 Stable Release Date
Samsung has confirmed that One UI 7 will be released in January 2025 with the release of the Galaxy S25 series. The Galaxy S24 series will be the first to receive One UI 7 followed by Fold 6 and Flip 6. Older Samsung flagships like the Galaxy S23 series will also get the update.
One UI 7: Supported Devices List
Thanks to Samsung’s five-year update promise, a bunch of Samsung devices are eligible for the Android 15-based (review) One UI 7. Out of all the devices, the Galaxy S24, Galaxy Fold 6, and Flip 6 will get it first as soon as the Galaxy S25 series is announced in January 2025.
If you’re wondering whether your device is eligible to review One UI 7, here’s a list of One UI 7 eligible devices that we made based on the year the devices were released and the number of updates Samsung promised for them.
All New Features in One UI 7
This section contains all the new features available after the One UI 7 Beta 1 update. Samsung’s yet to push the complete set of features and we should see them in upcoming Beta updates.
1. Redesigned Stock Icons
The stock One UI icons have been redesigned and they’re now more rounded with distinct shades of material colors that will make it easy for you to tell them apart. They have a sort of cartoonish touch to them while not feeling completely out of place and cheap.
Overall, they look refreshing from the current ones that we have grown used to. The change will be more prominent for Camera, Gallery, Settings, and Samsung Internet. My favorite icon has to be the camera icon.
2. New Quick Settings Panel
Besides icons, One UI 7 brings a revamped Quick Settings panel and it looks neat. The Quick Settings and Notifications are now separate, just like OxygenOS 15. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth pills are at the top followed by a cluster of smaller quick settings tiles, sound and brightness sliders, a media player, and two more pills. There’s a Gaussian blur effect in the background.
3. Now Bar (Live Activities Equivalent)
Samsung has adapted Live Activities from iOS for the lock screen on One UI 7 and is calling it the, wait for it, the Now Bar! Okay, they could’ve chosen a different name but there’s no denying that it looks sick. You can long-press it to expand and show more details if you want to.
It’s interactive and can show you the current song, voice recording, current run, or timer. Now (pun intended), Now Bar could be really helpful if Samsung can get apps like Uber that serve time-sensitive notifications to integrate from day one.
4. Vertical Launcher Drawer
By far one of the most requested One UI features was a vertical drawer and that’s now a reality. One UI 7 Beta brings a drawer that scrolls vertically. However, if you ever feel like going back to vertical scrollable app pages, there is an option to revert in launcher settings.
5. Improved Battery Icon and Widget Styling
One of the major changes in the status bar is the battery indicator which matches the rounded pill-like treatment of the Quick Setting tiles. The number styling inside resembles quite a lot to iOS’ battery indicator.
Speaking of iOS, the clock and calendar widgets also look like they were inspired by iOS. The widgets page has also been revamped.
6. Call Transcripts and AI Features
It cannot be a 2024 release without talking about AI features. The Call Transcripts feature, as the name suggests, transcribes your calls and saves them for later when call recording is enabled. There’s support for over 20 languages, and it’s easily one of the best features in One UI 7.
Besides, the Writing assist tools use on-device AI to rewrite and fix your writing mistakes, summarize the content, or compare it.
7. Smoother UI Animations
One UI 7 comes with smoother, more responsive animations across the board. Samsung calls it Interruptible animations just like OnePlus’ parallel animations in case you decide to close the app midway as it opens. Besides, there are new predictive back gesture animations courtesy of Android 15.
From the recent menu to app opening and closing animations, and per-app animations, there are a lot of changes. The look and feel of the UI certainly seem to be the priority in One UI 7 and we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung ends up polishing the animations more in future Betas.
8. Camera App UX Changes
The camera icon isn’t the only thing that has changed. One UI 7 also revamps the layout of the camera app and makes controls more accessible by adding them to the bottom. Options like flash, aspect ratio, timer, and settings, which used to be at the top, have now been shifted just above the camera shutter button. This should make taking one-handed pictures a lot easier.
9. Bold View for Apps
Another feature taken right from iOS 18 is the bold view for app icons. Picking this option from Settings 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.
10. Dynamic Island Style Notifications
Pixels will get live and ongoing notifications in Android 16 where live activities will be shown as pills with a timer on the left side of the status bar. It works for screen recording and voice recording, and the same has been added to One UI 7.
You’ll see a small pill-shaped notification on the left side of the status bar, which you can long press to expand. This feature should also extend to third-party apps, just like the Now Bar.
11. App Lock
App lock is a nifty feature that is a must if you don’t want others to snoop around your phone when you hand it to them. It lets you lock apps using a passcode, password, or pattern and offers the option to unlock them with biometrics.
12. 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. However, with the One UI 7 update, you will be able to add more shortcuts. This is a great accessibility feature, and I am glad Samsung is finally adding it.
13. Cross Device Continuity
Samsung’s ecosystem game is strong but a few features have been missing, like the continuity notifications receive and sync notifications across different devices. Not only that it also syncs incoming calls to other Galaxy smartphones and devices signed in with the same Samsung account. This is similar to the improvements Pixels received recently where you can now sync notifications and internet across devices.
One UI 7 Expected Features
These are all the features that haven’t rolled out yet but are expected to arrive in One UI 7 stable.
14. New Gallery and Phone Apps
Samsung is also working on a revamped Gallery and Phone apps. The Gallery app can be seen with a Google Photos-like menu tab at the bottom while the Phone app is still a work in progress. More details about these apps should be available as One UI 7 Beta gets closer to release.
New Gallery and Phone app in One UI 7.
Just added icons at the bottom (menus part) and Gallery having a seperate section for search (only shown in a later build).
Credits for Phone App: @chunvn8888 pic.twitter.com/6Wn5bA8NXq— Khaled 🍉 (@TechKhaled_) October 4, 2024
15. Bixby with AI Support
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.
16. Dark Theme for App Icons
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.
These are all the features that are available with One UI 7 Beta and some that we expect will roll out with the One UI 7 update. It’s easily one of the major UI updates One UI has received in years.
What do you think about One UI 7.0 and is there a particular feature you like the most? Let us know in the comments below.
Anshuman Jain
