Samsung has officially started rolling out are One UI 5 open beta for Galaxy S22 owners in the US, Germany and South Korea. The update comes just a few weeks before the expected release of Android 13 and just a few days before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event. Like the operating system it’s powered on, the One UI 5 beta looks like a relatively minor update that adds some customization options, tweaks to notifications, and new accessibility and security settings.
One UI 5 builds on Android 13’s theme options by offering up to 16 preset color themes based on your wallpaper and 12 additional color options for your home screen, icons, and quick panels. It also introduces a way to stack similarly sized widgets on top of each other, which should help create a less cluttered look.
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There are also some new accessibility features, including a magnifying glass that uses the phone’s camera to zoom in on real objects and text, as well as options to have your phone read your keyboard input aloud.
Samsung describes several other features that One UI 5 inherited from Android 13, such as new notification settings that require app developers to ask for your permission before sending you notifications. With the One UI 5 beta, you can also set your preferred language on an app-by-app basis, and gives you access to a redesigned security dashboard which scans your phone for possible problems.
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When Samsung released its One UI 4 beta last year, it highlighted how it gets updates earlier each year. This time, Samsung has widened the gap between the previous update even further, beating the September 2021 One UI 4 beta launch date by just over a month. As was the case with Samsung’s previous One UI betas, you can access the One UI 5 update by registering through the Samsung Members App.
While the One UI 5 beta is currently only available on S22 devices in the US, Germany, and South Korea, Samsung plans to roll it out to more devices and regions in the near future. We may hear more about what One UI 5 has to offer at Samsung’s Unpacked event on August 10, where Samsung is rumored to be launching a range of new devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy. Buds Pro 2.