Samsung Galaxy users offered major free upgrade – | Tech News

No sooner has Samsung launched its newest model of Android 16 for a crop of Galaxy telephones that it turns round and offers one set of fortunate cellphone homeowners entry to Android 17.

The Galaxy S26 launched earlier this yr with One UI 8.5, Samsung’s model of Android 16. Just final week this model started being pushed out to older Galaxy telephones together with the S25 and Z Fold 7 – however the Korean tech giant has determined now’s the time to introduce One UI 9, its tackle Android 17.

You’ll simply need the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus or S26 Ultra if you wish to strive it out. That’s as a result of One UI 9 is simply accessible in beta, which is a model of software program that’s nonetheless beneath development.

Tech companies generally allow you to set up a beta model because it helps them see the place there is perhaps bugs and unexpected points – you simply must acknowledge that the software program may not work fully easily, and sure features could break.

“Built on the new Android 17, One UI 9 beta delivers expanded creative tools, customization options, a more accessible mobile experience and stronger protection against potential security threats,” Samsung stated in a press release.

The firm added that the “full experience of One UI 9 will be introduced with upcoming Galaxy flagship devices later this year” – that is very prone to be with the anticipated release of the following era of Samsung folding telephones, presumed to be the Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8.

These flexible telephones are usually launched round July or August.

But for now, if in case you have a Galaxy S26, you may head to the Samsung Members app in your gadget and decide in to the new beta program.

“The One UI 9 beta program will be available to Galaxy S26 series users in select markets, including Germany, India, Korea, Poland, the U.K. and the U.S starting this week,” Samsung confirmed.

Here are the six new issues Samsung says you’ll have the ability to take a look at out.

Samsung Notes is getting a small replace to incorporate new pen types, whereas the Contacts app now, oddly, has entry to Samsung’s Creative Studio app for creating personalisd profile playing cards.

If something proves that no one goes into the Contacts app, linking it to your AI slop app to get people to interact is it.

More helpful for many people must be One UI 9’s replace to the short panel, which Samsung says provides you better control over format, with brightness, sound and media participant clearly individually adjustable, and more sizing choices.

It’s not the sexiest replace, however these are the types of adjustments that actua;ly improve the on a regular basis use of a smartphone.

If you need to make use of accessibility options in your S26, you’ll additionally have the ability to take pleasure in an adjustable Mouse Key velocity for smoother cursor control, plus new TalkBack screenreader instruments that Samsung says melds with what Google provides as half of the core Android expertise.

These users are additionally getting a model new characteristic known as Text Spotlight, which can be utilized to beam chosen textual content in a bigger dimension in a floating window.