Android 15 is on its way, and if you’re a major smartphone manufacturer like Samsung, you are already hard at work on preparing updates for your Android 14 devices. With Samsung, we’re used to its development cycle including a public beta period, where interested users are able to sign up to test the next big One UI release ahead of its final, stable, build. So far, though, that’s yet to get underway for Android 15, despite a number of reports suggesting it could get going last month. Now the latest chatter we’re seeing suggests that our wait could just be getting started.

We’re talking about One UI 7, which will deliver Android 15 to Samsung Galaxy phones. The past month has been positively rife with One UI 7 leaks and rumors, detailing possible changes to notifications, icon design, and more. But maybe the biggest question has concerned just when we’d see this beta actually get underway. Dates suggested as possibilities have come and gone with no sign of Samsung pressing “go” on the beta.

We’ve been expecting the Samsung One UI 7 beta program to launch for a while now, but it looks like we have to wait a little longer for the new Samsung software. However, a long-time leaker has just posted a lengthy One UI 7 changelog.

Ice Universe posted an apparent One UI 7 changelog on Weibo, and there are loads of tweaks and additions worth knowing. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

There are several notable visual changes worth highlighting, such as new system app icons, a new battery icon and charging animation, a new camera app UI, and new animations.

Ice Universe also asserts that you can choose between separate or unified dropdown menus for notifications and quick settings. That’s good news as earlier leaks suggested Samsung could switch to separate dropdown menus in One UI 7. So we’re glad to hear we might be given a choice between the two styles.

Other notable One UI 7 tweaks mentioned by the leaker include more desktop widgets, more lockscreen widgets, and large folder support. The latter in particular is a staple on some Android phones from rival brands.

We’ve been expecting the Samsung One UI 7 beta program to launch for a while now, but it looks like we have to wait a little longer for the new Samsung software. However, a long-time leaker has just posted a lengthy One UI 7 changelog.

Ice Universe posted an apparent One UI 7 changelog on Weibo, and there are loads of tweaks and additions worth knowing. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

There are several notable visual changes worth highlighting, such as new system app icons, a new battery icon and charging animation, a new camera app UI, and new animations.

Ice Universe also asserts that you can choose between separate or unified dropdown menus for notifications and quick settings. That’s good news as earlier leaks suggested Samsung could switch to separate dropdown menus in One UI 7. So we’re glad to hear we might be given a choice between the two styles.

Other notable One UI 7 tweaks mentioned by the leaker include more desktop widgets, more lockscreen widgets, and large folder support. The latter in particular is a staple on some Android phones from rival brands.

We heard our first One UI 6.1.1 leaks earlier this week, and it seems that Samsung is planning to bring plenty more AI features with this software. Now, a long-time leaker has revealed one more apparent AI feature.

Ice Universe claimed on X that the upcoming Samsung One UI 6.1.1 update will include an AI feature for portrait mode. More specifically, the tipster claims that “you can use AI to paint the portrait photos you take into various styles.”

It’s unclear whether this will be a highly customizable feature (e.g. using prompts), a handful of pre-defined on-device styles akin to filters, or something different altogether. We hope it’s not a few predefined styles as filters aren’t anything new.

In any event, this wouldn’t be the first time we see generative AI used for portraits on phones. Chinese brand vivo has offered generative portrait functionality on its high-end phones (seen below), allowing you to change the season in your portrait images. Your captured images are uploaded to vivo’s servers for processing, and the results aren’t convincing at all.

More recently, Xiaomi marketed an AI Portrait feature on the Xiaomi 14 series, which allows you to place yourself in a variety of scenes based on prompts. This doesn’t work locally, though, and requires you to feed previous photos of yourself as a reference so the feature can learn what you look like. This also doesn’t specifically work with portrait mode.

Either way, the aforementioned attempts to fuse generative AI and portraits have generally been very gimmicky. So our expectations are low for Samsung’s take on this in One UI 6.1.1, but we hope to be proven wrong.

Samsung Galaxy phones have all sorts of clever systems in place to keep them operating within normal parameters. One such system monitors hardware temperatures and takes action to prevent overheating if ever necessary.

Interestingly, Google appears to be working on a new thermal management solution for Pixel phones called Adaptive Thermal. The latter is built into the Device Health Services app.

A recent APK teardown (via Android Authority) of said app reveals some interesting aspects about how Adaptive Thermal might function and why it could be superior to Samsung's anti-overheating measures.

Giving users a better fighting chance against overheating

The APK teardown reveals two key elements of Adaptive Thermal. One is that the system can take extensive actions to keep phone temperatures in check. The other is more of a teaching tool.

According to strings of code found in Google's app, the Adaptive Thermal system keeps a close eye on the Pixel phone's battery and triggers a “pre-emergency” alert when it reaches 49 degrees Celsius.

At this point, the system appears to be throttling the phone's performance to help it cool down. A notification informs the user that they “may experience slower performance” and that they should “try avoiding direct sunlight or close any battery-intensive apps.”

Adaptive thermal will continue to monitor temperatures every five minutes and take extra steps if the battery reaches 52 degrees. If those extra anti-overheating measures (which are yet unknown) fail and the battery reaches 55 degrees Celsius, Adaptive Thermal sends a warning and shuts the phone down after 30 seconds.

What Samsung could learn from this

This is more or less the standard nowadays. Phones can monitor temperatures, send warnings, and shut down the phone as an emergency measure in case of excessive overheating.

Samsung's Galaxy phones can also cleverly prevent overheating by dimming the screen, throttling performance, pausing charging, and possibly through other steps.

However, in addition to these automated steps, Google's Adaptive Thermal solution seems to offer users better information about what's going on and how they can help prevent overheating.

Unlike Samsung's overheating notification, which only has an “OK” button, Adaptive Thermal's notification seems to have a “See care steps” option. When selected, this option reveals tips on how users can cool down their phones. It suggests actions such as disabling 5G connectivity, avoiding direct sunlight, closing intensive apps like games, closing down the Camera app, and more.

Samsung offers overheating management tips for Galaxy phones on some of its support pages online, but you have to know where and how you can find them online. And in case you're wondering, Samsung's Tips app doesn't contain any useful information about heat management, either.

Google's Adaptive Thermal system will allow Pixel phone users to receive heat management tips straight from the overheating notification, which seems to be a much more sensible way of doing things.

There's no known release date for Adaptive Thermal but it might come with the next version of Android. Either way, it might be something Samsung may want to consider adding to its own Device Care suite in One UI.

In the past, through Good Lock modules like Thermal Guardian, Samsung gave users in select markets more control over a chip's throttling parameters. However, Thermal Guardian is more of an experimental tool designed for advanced users rather than a general teaching tool.

The post Samsung could learn from Google’s upcoming Adaptive Thermal tool appeared first on SamMobile.

Google is working on improving and ironing out Android 15 for a release later this year. As usual, the new OS version introduces a handful of new features, some of which are not entirely original. Instant Hotspot is one such addition to Android 15, and fresh reports say it won't be coming to Samsung Galaxy devices.

First things first, what is Android's new Instant Hotspot feature? In short, it's a neat little tool that lets an Android tablet or Chromebook instantly connect to a phone's hotspot network.

f you use an Android tablet or a Chromebook without Wi-Fi in the vicinity of your phone, you'll see a pop-up asking you whether you want to use your phone's hotspot network, and the process is seamless.

It sounds convenient as much as it sounds familiar to Galaxy device users. And herein lies the apparent reason why Instant Hotspot isn't coming to One UI, Google says (via Android Authority).

Samsung's One UI already has something called Auto Hotspot

If it sounds like you've already encountered something like Google's Instant Hotspot on your Galaxy device, you probably have. Samsung's One UI boasts a feature called Auto Hotspot, which fulfills the same function as Instant Hotspot.

The difference is that Google's Instant Hotspot works with any Android tablet and Chromebook, whereas Samsung's Auto Hotspot only works with Galaxy devices, as long as they share a Samsung account or family group.

Story continues after the video…

On the bright side, Galaxy device users have had Auto Hotspot for some time, and the fact that they won't gain access to Google's version through Android 15 won't make much of a difference to their experience.

As long as you use Samsung Galaxy devices exclusively, you won't miss Instant Hotspot whatsoever. However, if you were hoping to utilize the Auto Hotspot feature in One UI with other Android tablet brands or a Chromebook, you might feel left out once Android 15 lands.

Editor's Note: Samsung might have had to choose between keeping its in-house Auto Hotspot One UI feature — which it developed before Google created Instant Hotspot — or ditching a feature Galaxy device users already have in favor of Google's alternative. 

It's understandable why Samsung might not be keen on abandoning Auto Hotspot and why it might not want to overcomplicate the user experience by offering both hotspot features at the same time.

However, seeing how Google's Nearby Share and Samsung's Quick Share have merged, maybe Samsung's Auto Hotspot will eventually merge with Google's Instant Hotspot.

The post Android 15 Instant Hotspot feature not coming to Samsung, but that’s okay appeared first on SamMobile.

It looks like Samsung is resuming the One UI 6.1 rollout for the Galaxy S22 series after putting a pause on its rollout last week. According to tipster Tarun Vats, a new One UI 6.1 build is now rolling out to users in South Korea. The firmware carries version numbers S908NKSU3EXE1/ S908NOKR3EXE1/S908NKSU3EXD7 and weighs around 3.2GB.

It looks like Samsung is resuming the One UI 6.1 rollout for the Galaxy S22 series after putting a pause on its rollout last week. According to tipster Tarun Vats, a new One UI 6.1 build is now rolling out to users in South Korea. The firmware carries version numbers S908NKSU3EXE1/ S908NOKR3EXE1/S908NKSU3EXD7 and weighs around 3.2GB.

May is normally a busy month in the mobile realm, and this year it's shaping up to be even more hectic than usual. Google's I/O 2024 conference is set for next week perhaps the most important event in Android all year and hardware releases are ramping back up from their post-MWC lull. Add big moves from Apple, Microsoft, and OpenAI to that ingredients list, and you've got a recipe for mobile mayhem. Lots has happened this week, but we've got you covered with the five biggest headlines all in one place.

It looks like Samsung is resuming the One UI 6.1 rollout for the Galaxy S22 series after putting a pause on its rollout last week. According to tipster Tarun Vats, a new One UI 6.1 build is now rolling out to users in South Korea. The firmware carries version numbers S908NKSU3EXE1/ S908NOKR3EXE1/S908NKSU3EXD7 and weighs around 3.2GB.

The Galaxy S22 series was launched in 2022, and the phones have aged quite gracefully thanks to the flagship headroom that they launched with. Samsung has newer flagships in the form of the Galaxy S24 series, but the company is bringing over its highlight Galaxy AI software features to the older Galaxy S22 series. The One UI 6.1 update with these features had just begun rolling out to the Galaxy S22 series, but it seems that rollout has been temporarily halted.

X user Tarun Vats noticed that the One UI 6.1 build for the Galaxy S22 series has been reverted from Samsung’s FOTA server. We spotted user reports on Samsung Community forums indicating that the Galaxy S22 series update was halted due to bugs. It appears that after updating, in some cases, the lock screen stops working, followed by the touch screen, prompting the need for a factory reset.

Update: May 2, 2024 (12:45 PM ET): As of now, the Galaxy S21 series and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are getting a limited taste of Galaxy AI features. The changelog for these phones mentions only the Circle to Search feature as part of the One UI 6.1 update. The Z Fold 3  seems to be getting many more AI features, including AI-generated wallpapers and Generative AI image editing.

Original article: May 2, 2024 (10:09 AM ET): Galaxy AI features are the hottest new set of features in One UI 6.1, and they played a big part in the Galaxy S24 experience. Samsung has been rolling out One UI 6.1 with Android 14 and Galaxy AI to the Galaxy S23 series, and the update recently reached the Galaxy S22 series. But the company is not done here, as the update has been spotted rolling out to the Galaxy S21 series and several of the company’s previous generation foldables, namely the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 3.

The Galaxy S24 series launched with a variety of Galaxy AI features. We’ve already seen most of these features come to the Galaxy S23 series and several other flagship phones as part of the One UI 6.1 update, but it looks like the Galaxy S22 series is next in line.

Galaxy S22 owners in Korea have confirmed that Samsung has pushed the One UI 6.1 update to their phones (h/t: Tarun Vats), weighing in at 3.1GB. Check out the machine-translated screenshots below.

After a few months of waiting, Samsung's 2021 and 2022 flagship phones have finally started getting the highly anticipated One UI 6.1 update with Galaxy AI features. Yesterday, Samsung began the One UI 6.1 rollout for the Galaxy Z3 and Z4 lineups, the Galaxy S21 series, and the Galaxy S22 trio of 2022 flagships.

At the moment, the One UI 6.1 update is available only in Korea, but it should reach more markets soon, even though Samsung may have halted the update for the Galaxy S22 due to alleged boot issues.

In any case, this firmware release brings many new features and at least one under-the-hood change you need to be aware of if you're a latecomer to One UI 6.1 and are now waiting for this fresh release.

Without further ado, here are the first things you should do once you get One UI 6.1 on your 2021 or 2022 high-end phone.

Bring back Notification Categories

One of the One UI 6.1 update's quirks is that it hides the Notification Categories menu, preventing users from managing notification types on the go.

As you probably know, the brilliant Notification Categories feature lets One UI users choose which notification types they can receive from apps individually. For example, it lets you turn off miscellaneous and marketing notifications for apps while keeping other, more important notification types enabled.

More so, this feature lets users manage notification types on the fly by tapping and holding a notification they don't like and turning it off with just a few screen taps.

Although this feature is now hidden in One UI 6.1, it still exists, and you can bring it back. To do this, open the Settings app, access “Notifications,” go to “Advanced settings,” and tap the “Manage notification categories for each app” toggle ON.

Beware the missing Samsung gestures

One other change you need to be aware of once you update your phone to One UI 6.1 is that Samsung navigation gestures are gone. The only remaining options are on-screen nav buttons and the arguably superior Google navigation gestures.

However, if you prefer Samsung gestures and you're actively using them, you won't be able to once you update to One UI 6.1. But fortunately, there is a way to re-enable them.

You can bring Samsung gestures back through the NavStar Good Lock module, regardless of whether or not you're in a market where Good Lock is supported. Check out our full guide for more details on how to use Samsung gestures in One UI 6.1.

Try these Galaxy AI features

On the more enjoyable side of things, the One UI 6.1 update brings Galaxy AI to your older flagship phone. For 2022 Galaxy flagships, the AI suite consists of almost everything that debuted with the Galaxy S24 series, except for Instant Slow Mo inside the Gallery app.

For 2021 flagships, things look a bit sadder, as it seems like there's only one Galaxy AI feature available for the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Z Flip 3, and Galaxy S21 series, and that is Circle to Search.

Once you get One UI 6.1, you'll probably want to try some Galaxy AI tools before others. We recommend taking Generative Wallpaper, Generative Edit, and Circle to Search for a spin.

• To access Generative Edit, pinch the home screen, go to “Wallpaper and style,” tap “Change wallpapers,” select “Generative” under the Creative category, and start generating AI wallpapers based on keywords.
• To use Generative Edit, open the Gallery app, select an image you want to edit, tap the pencil-shaped button, and then press the Generative AI icon that looks like a couple of stars on a blue gradient background. Check our review for all you need to know about Generative AI.
• To use Circle to Search, simply tap and hold the home button/gesture handle and then circle around or tap objects on the screen to view relevant web searches. It's that simple.

Galaxy AI brings a few other tools you may try, albeit they are focused more on productivity. As long as you are using a 2022 flagship model with One UI 6.1, you can summarize articles in Samsung Internet and Samsung Notes, use the new AI-powered Interpreter, translate calls on the fly, and even change the tone of your messages with Chat Assist.

Lastly, you should keep in mind that you can manage most of these new Galaxy AI features individually by opening the Settings app, accessing “Advanced features,” and tapping “Advanced intelligence.”

The post Things to do once you get One UI 6.1 on your Galaxy phone appeared first on SamMobile.

We're seeing new reports from people experiencing green line display issues on their Samsung Galaxy phones. Almost like clockwork, these types of reports seem to be spiking once or twice a year, and a portion of affected customers usually claim that the green line defect happened after a firmware update.

The big question now is whether or not you should be afraid of updating the firmware on your Samsung Galaxy phone. Is it safe to update your device? Here's our take on the matter.

Can these hardware failures be caused by firmware updates?

First, what is the green line problem affecting some Samsung Galaxy phone customers? In short, it's a display issue of yet-unknown origins that manifests as one or more vertical green lines (sometimes purple) that run across a Galaxy phone's screen.

Many Galaxy phone models have reportedly had this issue, and, in fact, phones from other brands have experienced this as well — even iPhones equipped with OLED panels.

Is this a hardware problem? Is it an OLED-specific issue? Or can firmware updates break Galaxy phone screens in this manner?

Well, smartphones are complex devices, and unless Samsung comes out with an official statement, we can't be too sure of anything. What we can say is that, usually, green and/or purple vertical lines on a smartphone's display indicate a hardware failure — a bad display connection. Not just on Samsung phones but on more or less any device, from any brand, equipped with an OLED panel.

This kind of green line issue can have a few causes. For example, the OLED connection may have short-circuited because of liquid damage or other factors. Dropping the phone can also cause hardware damage and lead to these green line display issues.

There's also the possibility of manufacturing defects — although, in most cases, it's logical to assume that these manufacturing defects would be noticeable immediately upon powering up the phone rather than cropping up after a few years of usage.

But what about firmware updates? Can they cause these green-line issues?

Is it safe to update your Samsung phone?

Until more evidence comes to light, we can't be too sure of the causes behind the green line display issues that affect some Galaxy (and other) phones. However, most signs point to hardware failures and human nature rather than anything that has to do with software.

Some people claim it's all caused by firmware updates, and they've embraced that narrative on social media. But it's probably wiser to avoid sensationalized social media posts when it comes to trying to gain information on any issue. It's probably better to try to identify the same old patterns that crop up year after year and consider the few facts there are:

• There's an inherent failure rate for any consumer electronics. These green line issues happen, albeit rarely, with every phone brand. However, Samsung is the biggest phone OEM, so it will get the most attention.
• These green line display issue reports are minuscule in number compared to Samsung's phone sales figures. This issue is far from being as widespread as it may seem.
• These problems appear to affect users from India the most. However, many phone models not manufactured in India seem to be affected, which suggests this isn't a quality control issue at the Noida plant.
• Green line display problems seem to affect many models across different price ranges, including Galaxy A, M, S, and Z.
• Reports concerning the green line display problem often snowball once every few months. Media outlets pick up these user reports, after which more user reports crop up, and so on, creating a feedback loop.
• Some social media users looking for engagement have faked green-line issues.
• We shouldn't ignore the human element, i.e., there's always the possibility that a percentage of affected phone users have caused accidental damage to their phones, have had improper third-party screen repairs done to their phones, or are using third-party screens but omit these details in their reports. This makes it even more difficult to identify the real cause of the issue for users who should be eligible for an official explanation or free repairs.
• Green lines developing after a firmware update can be a mere coincidence. There's nothing linking these together other than conjecture.

Consider this: Samsung India now offers free limited-time display replacements for a few select affected devices.

Therefore, it's logical to assume that the company wouldn't go through all this trouble if it could fix these issues remotely through a firmware update. Rather, the limited-time free screen replacement program might indicate that at least a small number of these green line cases could be caused by a manufacturing defect, and Samsung might be using this limited-time program to investigate the problem further.

Likely, it's more unsafe to never update your phone again

Samsung releases firmware updates regularly — at least once a month for flagship models — which means some of these green line display issues can coincide with firmware update releases, even if the two are completely unrelated.

By the looks of things, it's probably safer to keep updating your phone with new security patches than it is to try to avoid the problem by never updating your phone again. There's a reason why security patches exist.

However, there's always that element of unknown, at least until more details come to light — if ever. So, if you want to be extra careful, you can always turn off automatic updates by opening the Settings app on your phone, accessing “Software update,” and toggling “Auto download over Wi-Fi” off. You can then try to monitor every new firmware update and wait for user reports for a few days or weeks before you update yourself.

The post Do Samsung firmware updates cause green line display issues? appeared first on SamMobile.

Around the time of the Samsung Galaxy S24 launch, Samsung assured us that One UI 6.1 — the software debuting with those phones — would be available on other devices. Now, the company is giving a timeline for when that rollout will begin.

Per Samsung, One UI 6.1 will start rolling out to the Galaxy S23 series (including the Galaxy S23 FE), the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series starting in “late March.” Unfortunately, the company wasn’t more specific than that. We had previously heard this timeline through a leak, but seeing the company confirm it is nice.