One UI

One UI is a user interface (UI) developed by Samsung Electronics for its Android devices running Android 9 "Pie" and later. Succeeding Samsung Experience and TouchWiz, it is designed to make using larger smartphones easier and be more visually appealing. To provide more clarity, some elements of the UI are tweaked to match colors that are based on the color of the user's phone. It was announced at Samsung Developer Conference in 2018, and was unveiled in Galaxy Unpacked in February 2019 alongside the Galaxy S10 series, Galaxy Buds and the Galaxy Fold.
It is also the software layer for their smartwatch Tizen and Wear OS platform, which Samsung co-developed with Google. As of 2021, it is also the software layer for the Microsoft Windows platform on Galaxy Book devices.
Features
One UI was designed as part of a goal to make Samsung's hardware and software "work together in perfect harmony" and provide a more "natural" experience on large-screen smartphones. One UI displays most of the features that were in the Samsung Experience UX. A prominent design pattern in many of Samsung's system applications is to intentionally place common features and user interface elements along the middle of the screen rather than near the top. This makes them easier to reach with a user's thumb when using the device one-handed.
For similar reasons, apps utilise large headers to push their main content towards the vertical centre of the screen. The navigation bar supports the use of gestures and the usual 3-button system, while a system-wide "night mode" was also added (which gives UI elements and supported applications a darkened color scheme). As with Android Pie upstream, the Overview screen of recent apps uses a horizontal layout, as opposed to the vertical layout of previous versions.
One UI Core
One UI Core is a slimmed down version of the original One UI feature set aimed towards the budget-friendly A, F, and M series low and mid-range devices. These variants of the system usually have a lighter set of features than the regular variant but the feature availability may vary with the models using the software.
Default apps and components
The following is a list of Samsung's own software and functionalities that come with One UI (as of version 5).
Additional Samsung apps and components for One UI are offered on the Samsung Galaxy Store.
Since One UI devices running Android use Google's version of the OS, numerous Google Mobile Services components also ship with the devices.
Version history
One UI 1
One UI 1.0 is the first version of One UI and is based on Android 9 "Pie". It brought about many features which were becoming increasingly popular among various apps. First and foremost, dark mode was added to make viewing in dark spaces easier on the user's eyes. This feature was included in many apps and eventually brought to iOS 13 and Android 10. The first version also brought native screenshot editing tools, refined curves, refinements to the Always-On Display (tap to show), an upgraded Bixby with support for remapping the Bixby button, and a new way to navigate the device: gestures released on February 20, 2019.
While Android 9 “Pie” did come with gesture support, it was only available on Pixel devices and stock AOSP devices and is said to be 'half baked' by many users. However, Samsung decided to create their own gesture system to navigate devices with One UI installed. To achieve this, the user has to swipe up from the bottom of the device in the three locations of the 'buttons' to navigate. The gesture system has received mixed reviews. One UI 1.0 was released on 7 November 2018.
One UI 1.1 brought a stability fixes and performance optimizations, primarily for the camera, fingerprint reader, and facial recognition. One UI 1.1 was released alongside the Galaxy S10 series. This update isn't available on the Galaxy S8 series and Galaxy Note8 series series.
One UI 1.5 provided a native screen recorder, a "Power Mode" for higher system performance and exclusive early-access Link to Windows support in cooperation with Microsoft. It launched with the Galaxy Note10 series devices on 23 August 2019.
One UI 2
One UI 2.0 is the second version of One UI and is powered by Android 10. It provides Galaxy users with a skinned Digital Wellbeing experience, a more refined UI in some default apps such as Device Care, a minor UI change to the clock position in quick settings, a native screen recorder, the new Android 10 gesture system, Dynamic Lock Screen (different wallpaper with every unlock), a Trash folder in Files, native Android Auto, and harder Location permission access. One UI 2.0 was rolled out to eligible devices starting 3 December 2019.
One UI 2.1 brought support for 120 Hz refresh rate, Quick Share, Music Share, additional camera modes, and native support for Live Captions. It was first released with the Galaxy S20 series & the Galaxy Z Flip. It also arrived for older devices such as the Galaxy S9 and S10, Note 9 and Note 10, the Galaxy Fold, and select Galaxy A series devices as a software update starting February 24, 2020.
One UI 2.5 was initially released on 21 August 2020 with the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 series, with the update later being released for the Galaxy S20 series along with older Samsung phones. One UI 2.5 doesn't bring radical changes to the UI, but there are plenty of new feature additions to the camera, DeX, gesture navigation, and other services.
One UI 3
One UI 3.0, based on Android 11, was released for Galaxy S20 devices beginning on 2 December 2020. The update includes a few noteworthy improvements, such as a translucent notification panel, brief notifications, new volume controls positioned on the right or left of the device alongside the physical volume keys, slightly enhanced widgets, and smoother animations and transitions throughout the whole UI among other features.
One UI 3.1 first released with the Galaxy S21 series, has started rolling out to other supported Galaxy devices, starting with the Galaxy S20 series on 17 February 2021. There are no notable user interface changes. It contains many new camera feature improvements such as improved touch autofocus and auto exposure controller and improved Single Take feature and software implementations such as Object Eraser, Multi Mic Recording, Eye Comfort Shield, Private Share and others.
One UI 3.1.1 first released with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 on 11 August 2021. It made multitasking easier with enhanced multi-window and task-switching features and also optimized more apps to take advantage of the large screen devices such as foldables and tablets. As such it was only released to eligible Galaxy Z series and Galaxy Tab series devices. The new features were rolled out to all supported devices but bar-type phones continued to show their software version as One UI 3.1 after the update.
One UI 4
One UI 4.0, based on Android 12, is the fourth generation of One UI. It was released to the Galaxy S21 Series on 15 November 2021. One UI 4.0 focuses on customization, privacy, and access to Samsung's expanding ecosystem.
One UI 4.1 was first released with the Samsung Galaxy S22 series. It brought minor changes, however it did introduce features like Smart Calendar, added option to choose how much virtual RAM is desired (from 2, 4, 6 or 8 GB), redesigned palette picker, Smart Widgets, separate Left/Right audio balance, extra brightness toggle, Pro Mode on more cameras, Night Mode portraits, and other minor changes.
One UI 4.1.1 is based on Android 12L which optimized the Android OS for alternative form factors such as foldables. It first released with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 on August 23, 2022. This update also adds further Samsung specific enhancements to multitasking and optimizations for foldable smartphones (Galaxy Z Fold line) and large screen tablets (Galaxy Tab line). Even though the new features made it to supported bar-type phones One UI 4.1.1, like One UI 3.1.1, was only officially rolled out to the Galaxy Z series and Galaxy Tab series.
One UI 5
One UI 5.0, based on Android 13, was announced on 12 October 2022, as the fifth-generation of One UI. It was publicly released to the Galaxy S22 series first starting 24 October 2022 with other supported devices following later.
Some features and changes include the ability to turn off the RAM Plus feature, where previously users could only limit it to 2GB rather than turning it off entirely, and a redesigned way of customizing the lock screen, similar to iOS 16. Material You was also expanded to most of Google and Samsung Apps along with some third-party apps that support material you, allowing more ways to customize One UI. One UI 5 also brings refreshed icons for a more-refined look across the UI.
One UI 5.1 was announced on 1 February 2023 and released on 13 February 2023 with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. It brought many new multitasking features, weather, new battery widget, Settings and Spotify suggestions, Camera and Gallery features, as well as improvements such as the ability to change color tone for selfies, enhanced image remastering, and revamped info display.
One UI 5.1.1 launched with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Tab S9 on 11 August 2023. The update increases the number of apps shown in the taskbar with more recent apps, improves support for Flex Mode in more apps, allows for two-handed drag-and-drop file transfer and gives the ability to hide apps in pop-up mode among other features and improvements.
One UI 6
One UI 6.0 is an upcoming version of One UI based on Android 14. It was officially released for the Galaxy S23 series starting 30 October 2023 with other devices expected to receive the update in the coming weeks.
The update includes a redesigned quick panel with a new button layout, improved access to the brightness settings and a new notification layout that allows sorting by time. Other new features include a new default font, new emojis and an improved multitasking experience. Built-in Samsung applications such as the Camera app, Gallery, Photo Editor, Weather among others have also received updates to add more functionality and customization.
Update support
2019–2021
As of 5 August 2020, Samsung offers up to three years of One UI and operating system updates and four years of security updates for the following devices.
Galaxy S10 and S20 series
Galaxy Note 10 and Note 20 series
Galaxy Z Fold, Z Fold 2, and Z Flip
Galaxy A90, A51, A71, A52, and A72
Galaxy Tab S6 and Tab S7 series
2021–present
As of 9 February 2022, Samsung offers up to four years of One UI and operating system updates and five years of security updates for flagship devices sold in 2021 and later, and mid range devices sold in 2022 and later. This includes the following device series.
Galaxy S21 series and later flagships
Galaxy Z Fold 3, Z Flip 3, and later foldables
Galaxy A2x series (A24 and later), Galaxy A3x series (A33 and later), A5x series (A53 and later), and A73
Galaxy M3x series (M34 and later), and Galaxy M5x series (M54 and later)
Galaxy Tab S8 series and later tablets
Galaxy Watch 4 series and later watches
Galaxy Book laptops sold in 2021 and later (They will receive security updates for 18 months after the last major Windows feature update supported for that device)
Devices running One UI
Sources to verify this section: doc.samsungmobile.com/[model number]/[country specific code]/doc.html
Model numbers: can be found on the related Wikipedia pages and by using a search engine
Country Specific Code (CSC): Code designated by Samsung to differentiate between regional firmwares. Codes can also be found using a search engine or using this example
Example (Galaxy S10 from Germany): https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-G973F/DBT/doc.html
Smartphones
Tablets
Computers
Watches
References
Android (operating system) software
Custom Android firmware
Mobile operating systems
Samsung software