Samsung UK has updated its website about the One UI Galaxy S9 beta to say that it is “coming soon.” The same website had earlier said that the beta program would launch in the UK on November 20th. Now, we can't say for certain if this means the date provided initially was incorrect or that you could see the beta program pop up at any moment now. Samsung does say that we should keep an eye on the Samsung Members app, but it would be best to not be too hopeful.
From a concrete date to coming soon
Some Samsung UK support representatives are telling people that the beta program did begin on November 20, but it would take time to reach everyone because it's rolled out in phases. But a phased rollout wasn't employed for the beta in the phase one countries, so this could be another case of Samsung's support representatives having no clue about things. And not a single Galaxy S9 or S9+ user in the UK seems to have gotten access to the beta yet. That's a good sign that the beta is yet to reach the country.
It also makes sense that the UK isn't getting beta access so soon. The UK is supposed to be in the second phase of the Android Pie beta program. And the possibility of phase two kicking off less than a week after phase one seems highly unlikely. That said, we'll be keeping a close eye on things over the next few days just in case Samsung is going to expand availability of the beta so quickly. In the meantime, be sure to check out our One UI feature focus series to see what's new with Android Pie and One UI.
Do tell us if you get access to the beta in the UK or any of the other phase two countries by leaving a comment. For those wondering, the phase two countries include China, Poland, Spain, France and India.
