The first One UI 9 beta for the Galaxy S26 may land soon

Android 17 will be the next major smartphone OS to emerge from Google's labs. The software's final beta was made available last month, setting the stage for a stable rollout sometime next month. In the meantime, Samsung has been testing the Android 17-based One UI 9 software internally since February, though there has been no inkling of the first beta dropping anytime soon.

There's now some positive news on this front, as the first One UI 9 beta for the Galaxy S26 series has just appeared on Samsung's test servers, as pointed out by Tarun Vats on X (via Android Authority). Based on a quick reading of the build versions shared by Vats, these builds appear to be for the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Galaxy S26 Plus (S948 and S947).

The appearance of a beta build on a test server is usually a good indicator that a rollout will follow soon. Vats similarly reported the first One UI 8.5 beta's appearance on test servers back in late November. Samsung then officially started the beta rollout for the Galaxy S25 series a couple of weeks later.

What can we expect from One UI 9 this summer?

Information about the changes One UI 9 will bring is relatively scarce, though leaks over the past few months give us some sense of what to expect. The software is expected to bring visual and functional upgrades to the Now Bar, the Gallery app, and widgets on your Galaxy smartphone.

Additionally, Samsung Browser will see a couple of upgrades, including support for multiple windows, while changes to the About phone section are also on the cards. These are among the few upgrades that we know about, with more revelations hopefully coming our way in the weeks and months ahead.

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This comes as Samsung has just begun the One UI 8.5 stable rollout for its 2025 flagships, beginning with South Korea. While the Galaxy S25 series and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 are among the first in line, older flagships should follow suit soon.

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By all accounts, Samsung has been relatively slow to roll out this software across its existing lineup of devices, especially considering the beta was launched several months ago. One can only hope that things will be different with One UI 9, which is expected to debut on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Flip 8, and the hotly anticipated "Wide" Z Fold by July or possibly August.

Meanwhile, the first One UI 9 beta will be available for the Galaxy S26 series to start, with other devices joining the list later. This is similar to Samsung's One UI 8.5 beta roadmap, with the Galaxy S25 series getting it first in December last year, while owners of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy Z Fold 6/Flip 6 had to wait a few months.