Samsung's One UI 7 Based On Android 15 Arrives With AI Upgrades For Galaxy S24 Devices

Android 15 arrived on Google's Pixel devices a few months back, but other phone makers are only beginning their update journeys. Samsung is often one of the first to release new versions of Android after Google, and sure enough, the One UI 7 beta has just launched. If you can't wait for the final version, the program is open in multiple countries for those with a Galaxy S24 smartphone.

This version of Samsung's software is based on Android 15, but you'd never know under all of the Samsung design quirks. Samsung downplays the underlying Android version, preferring to focus on the modifications it makes as part of the One UI skin. For example, there are even more Galaxy AI features in One UI 7. The writing assist tool can now be invoked anyplace there is selectable text. Simply highlight, tap the AI button, and select a tool like summarize from the resulting pop-up. The update also brings call recording with automatic transcripts.

One UI 7 also adds a feature to the lock screen called the Now Bar. It sits at the bottom of the screen, offering quick access to select activities across the phone. These appear to mostly be ongoing functionality like timers, music playback, recorder, and more. Samsung claims this will "transform the lock screen experience," but it's not clear to what degree (if at all) this feature will work if you choose not to use Samsung's bundled apps.


Samsung also promises a simplified home screen, cleaner widgets, and myriad UI tweaks. In particular, the quick settings are starting to look a whole lot like the iPhone's Control Center interface. On the plus side, One UI 7 finally has a vertically scrollable app drawer as an option. Previously, Samsung phones have used a side-to-side app drawer interface, which is almost unique among Android phones. It's not all good news, though. Samsung has weirdly chosen to add a "Secured by Knox" watermark to the bottom of the app drawer, reminding users of its security platform every time they go looking for an app.

One UI 7 is available for testing on the Galaxy S24 series via the Samsung Members app. Just opt into the test, and your device will get the update. The beta test is available in the US, UK, Germany, India, Korea, and Poland. Samsung hasn't said anything specific about the release timeline for the final version, but we'd expect it early next year.