What you need to know
- Samsung has reportedly started rolling out One UI 9 Beta 4 (Android 17) to the Galaxy S26 series overseas.
- The beta includes a ~1.25GB download with mostly bug fixes ahead of a hopeful release for current and previous-gen devices.
- Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked will arrive next week (July 22) and the company is expected to unveil new watches and foldables.
Android 17 has been available for a few weeks now and Samsung continues working on its version for Galaxy phones.
Early this morning (July 14), SamMobile saw the Korean OEM releasing the next version of its Android 17 beta. A user interface 9 Beta 4 is rolling out for the Galaxy S26 series; however, the publication reports that it has only been seen in India. The patch is ~1.25 GB in size and includes the July 2026 security update for the S26 series. So far, it seems like Samsung is more focused on fixing a handful of issues its current flagship series has experienced.
A problem affects the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung claims it is rolling out a fix for the privacy display routine. While this routine is running, the change log indicates that it “will not work normally” when users turn it on or off in the Quick Panel or Settings. Another issue hampered Galaxy S26 players.
It says the navigation bar will disappear under “certain conditions” while playing. This should be fixed, along with a Bluetooth issue. Samsung says an issue that paralyzes your “Bluetooth audio media volume” when connected to a vehicle should be resolved in Beta 4.
Also included are the following fixes:
- Fixed an issue where timer notification numbers are cut off or Ul is unstable in live notification.
- Improved Ul performance issues that occur when opening and closing the Quick Panel
- Improved an issue where the clock size appeared abnormal when rotating the lock screen horizontally/vertically.
Will One UI 9 be released soon?
Android Central’s opinion
Like Google, Samsung has accelerated the development of One UI 9 (Android 17). I hope we don’t run into any major issues that will significantly delay this update. We all remember the trials and tribulations we went through with One UI 8.5 on its previous generation phones. The unboxing will be available soon and I hope to hear something about their next major OS.
Samsung has been consistent with its beta, releasing updates on an almost monthly cadence. mid June is when we got beta 3which was also over a gigabyte in size. The patch was made available early in several overseas regions, similar to what we have with Beta 4. However, that should start to change. However, Beta 3 brought several fixes, such as a fix to a reboot issue that was affecting the S26 series during video streaming.
Focus precision with a 30x zoom was included, as well as a white screen during calls.
Samsung next wave of products is on the way, and there’s a chance that One UI 9 could also be on the horizon. We’re expecting the usual suspects: the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Fold 8. There’s also been excitement around a Wide Fold 8, which we got to see during this summer’s Unpacked, along with Samsung’s new smartwatches.
