Here’s everything new in Samsung’s One UI 8.5 update [Gallery]

Ben Schoon | Dec 8 2025 - 8:30 am PT

Samsung’s latest major Galaxy update, One UI 8.5, has just debuted in beta. While the full rollout won’t take place until sometime in 2026, we can take a look through everything that’s new in this update.

Some of biggest updates in One UI 8.5

Fully customizable Quick Panel

After One UI 8 introduced a new, split Quick Panel for your Quick Settings, One UI 8.5 is giving you greater control. The updated panel is now fully customizable, with the ability to adjust the layout of every toggle and slider, as well as a refreshed UI for adding new controls.

Liquid Glass all the things + first-party app redesigns

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Samsung has also updated its design language in One UI 8.5. You’ll notice a bit of a 3D effect to app icons (for Samsung’s apps, at least) as well as a similar effect within first-party apps.

There are also some tweaks to the UI that are clearly drawn from Apple’s Liquid Glass, such as the prominence of floating rounded buttons and taskbars. The transparency effect isn’t anything like Apple’s, thank goodness, but there are similarities throughout. You can see the change especially when comparing apps in One UI 8 to the updated look in One UI 8.5.

‘Storage Share’ in My Files app

The “My Files” app is picking up a new feature called “Storage Share.” This allows your phone to access the storage of other nearby Samsung devices. The other device doesn’t need to be running One UI 8.5, but you will need to accept a prompt on that other device before getting started.

*Storage Share + the prompt on a target device*

Weather backgrounds for alarms

The Clock app now supports adding a weather background for your daily alarm, letting you quickly see the weather as soon as you get up.

‘Audio broadcasts’

Building on Auracast support, Samsung’s One UI 8.5 update now supports using your voice in “audio broadcasts,” which can also now be accessed via the Quick Panel.

The full One UI 8.5 changelog

Samsung has also detailed the full One UI 8.5 update through a changelog, which we’ve added below as pulled from the OTA update.

One UI 8.5 Beta

Galaxy Al

Continuous image generation

Keep creating without stopping. Photo Assist now lets you generate Al images using different Photo assist features without saving each iteration. When you’re done, you can review all your creations in your history and pick your favorites.

Connectivity

Storage share

Access your files anywhere. Files from your other Samsung phones, tablets, and PCs are available in the My Files app on your phone. You can also access your phone’s files on other Samsung devices, even your TV.

Quickly connect to Smart View devices

Connect to your favorite display faster. You can now add a shortcut on your Home screen to instantly mirror your phone’s screen to a TV or other display device.

Enhanced Auracast features

It’s easier than ever to listen to and broadcast sound with Auracast. Options for both broadcasting and listening are now located in the Audio broadcast menu in Settings.

Voice broadcasts

Broadcast your voice to people around you with Auracast. In addition to media sound, you can now broadcast your voice using your phone’s built-in microphone.

Quick Share

Avoid unwanted sharing requests

You can now set Quick Share to only receive files from other devices signed in to your Samsung account or Google account.

Photo sharing suggestions

Share photos with the right people faster. When you share pictures that include friends or family, Quick Share can recognize who’s in them and suggest sharing directly with those people.

Home and Lock screens

Automatic Lock screen layout

Wallpapers with pictures of people or pets now fit perfectly every time. When you choose a photo for your Lock screen, the layout adjusts automatically so the clock and widgets don’t cover important parts of the picture.

More customizable clock fonts

Personalize your Lock screen clock. You can now adjust the thickness of more font styles to match your preferred look.

Weather

Enhanced weather widget

Quickly check upcoming precipitation in the Weather widget on your Home screen. The widget now shows a graph if precipitation is expected in the next few hours.

Pollen index

Check how much pollen is in the air to help manage your allergies. You can check pollen levels for trees, grass, and ragweed.

Clock

Weather alarm backgrounds

Wake up to an alarm that gets you ready for the day’s weather. Your alarm screen can now show the current weather conditions as a background when it rings.

Time zone converter

Compare time zones at a glance. The new slider in the Clock app makes it easy to check the time difference between places around the world.

Samsung Health

Enhanced weekly reports

See a fuller picture of your health each week. Weekly reports now include data from your medication tracker and mindfulness sessions.

Upgraded Sharing Experience

Share your workouts your way. Mix and match your exercise stats with photos from your workout to create the perfect social media post.

Start meditations from your watch

Find calm right from your wrist. You can now start favorite or recommended meditations directly on your Galaxy Watch without picking up your phone.

Antioxidant measurements from your watch

Check your antioxidant levels anytime. Measure directly from your Galaxy Watch, even if it’s not connected to your phone. Works with Galaxy Watch8 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Security and privacy

Theft protection

Keep your phone and data safe in case it is lost or stolen. Turn on Failed authentication lock to automatically lock the screen in case there are too many failed attempts to verify your identity using your fingerprints, PIN, pattern, or password. Identity check also protects even more settings than before.

Turn off Auto blocker temporarily

If you need to temporarily disable Auto blocker’s security protection, a new option lets you turn it on automatically 30 minutes later so you don’t forget.

Battery and power

Revamped battery info

See your battery use more clearly. The redesigned Battery settings screen makes it easier to check remaining time, charging status, and daily usage over the past week.

Improved Power saving

Use Power saving to make your battery last longer without charging. Choose Standard for moderate savings and customizable limits, or choose Maximum to turn off all non-essential features and make your battery last as long as possible.

Accessibility

Easily control Bluetooth hearing aids

Access settings for your Bluetooth hearing aids directly from the Accessibility shortcut. A pop-up will appear that lets you change your hearing program, turn Ambient sound on or off, and more.

Control magnification with mouse or keyboard

Keep what you need magnified in view with these new options. You can make the magnified area follow the cursor as you type or move when you change focus using the keyboard. When using a mouse, you can make the magnified area shift as you move the pointer to the edge of the screen.

Dwell action and Corner actions

The Auto action after pointer stops feature has been divided into 2 features. Dwell action lets you set custom actions when your mouse stops moving for a certain amount of time. Corner actions let you set a different action for each corner of the screen.

Even more improvements

More customizable quick panel

Arrange your quick settings just the way you like them. You can now add, remove, reorder, and reorganize controls in the quick panel.

Early alerts for reminders

Get alerts before reminders are due to make sure you don’t forget important tasks. You can choose how far in advance to get an alert for each reminder.

Partial screen recording

Include only what you need in your screen recordings. You can now select only the part of the screen that you want to record.

Calculator nudges

Save time on calculations. Numbers and formulas copied to your clipboard will be suggested when you open Calculator so you can enter them with a quick tap.

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