Samsung One UI 5 beta now rolling out in the US (Updated: Official details)

Update: August 7, 2022 (10:08 PM ET): Samsung has officially announced the One UI 5 beta rollout in the US, Germany, and South Korea. The new software will initially be available on the Samsung Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra in the aforementioned countries, with releases in other regions planned over the coming months.

In its blog post, Samsung also detailed some new features of One UI 5. These include an expanded set of color-theming options, the ability to stack widgets of the same size in the same location to save space, and new controls for blocking notifications from certain apps.

One UI 5 Users will also be able to select custom languages for different apps in the Settings.

There’s a new icon in the Pro and Pro Video mode that offers useful tips on how to use the various lenses, features, and controls of the camera. Samsung has also added a more responsive zoom bar for quicker close-ups and one-handed zoom.

For security, One UI 5 introduces a new dashboard that lets users view the security status of their phone, shows whether there are security issues, and recommends ways to fix them.

The company says it’ll add more features to the new skin going forward.

Original article: August 6, 2022 (12:50 PM ET): Just a few hours after Samsung confirmed that the One UI 5 beta has begun its rollout in Germany, a new report from 9to5Google says the beta is starting to become available to some users in the United States.

The update of Samsung’s UI overlay version of Android 13 is currently only being rolled out to a very limited number of Galaxy S22 phone models. There’s no word yet on the list of US wireless carriers that will make the beta available to users. This beta has been made available well ahead of the expected official launch of Android 13, which currently looks like it will happen sometime in September.

9to5Google has also posted a screenshot of the long and detailed change log for the One UI 5 beta. Many of the beta features are available in Android 13, but many are also specific to Samsung phones. That includes faster access to Samsung’s Bixby digital assistant, along with Bixby Routines, which help automate smartphone tasks.

If you own a Galaxy S22 phone and want to be considered for the beta test, you must first download the Samsung Members app. Afterward, go through the “Registration for One UI Beta Program” sign-up process. Then all you have to do is wait until the beta hopefully rolls out to your phone. Besides Germany and the US, the beta will be available in China, India, Poland, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. There’s no word when One UI 5 will be generally available to supported Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets.