During its SDC (Samsung Developer Conference) 2022 event, Samsung showcased One UI 5.0 and new features for Bixby, Samsung Knox, SmartThings, and Tizen. After the event, a Samsung executive revealed more about the company's One UI 5.0 rollout plans and what it is working on for the next version of One UI.
Hyesoon (Sally) Jeong, VP at Samsung Electronics and the in-charge of One UI development, mentioned to Android Authority that the company is looking to roll out the stable version of One UI 5.0 to almost all of its compatible high-end smartphones before the end of this year.
Seamless Updates coming to Samsung Galaxy phones next year
Currently, Samsung's phones lack Android's Seamless Updates feature, which means that whenever a firmware update arrives, you are locked out of your phone for 10-20 minutes while the update is installed. Sally confirmed that Samsung is working on Seamless Updates for Galaxy phones and tablets. She hopes the feature will roll out as a part of the One UI 6.0 update sometime next year.
With Android 13, Google made it mandatory for smartphone OEMs to create virtual A/B partitions. So, when a firmware update arrives, it is installed in the background on a ROM partition that's currently not being used. And when the phone is rebooted, it boots directly from the partition with the newest firmware, making the update process seamless.
During her interview with Android Authority, Sally also talked about TouchWiz, Samsung Experience, and One UI. When asked whether Samsung could switch to a new software UI, Sally said, “I think One UI is here to stay at least as long as I am.” She has been with the South Korean tech giant for 25 years.
One UI isn't coming to Chromebooks at Tizen OS-powered Samsung smart TVs
Currently, One UI runs on Samsung's smartphones, tablets, and wearables. Some of its design elements are also used in the company's laptops running Windows 11. However, Sally confirmed that One UI is not coming to its Chromebooks and TVs. She also said that One UI would continue to look different from stock Android UI, but the companies will adopt each other's features as much as possible.
The Samsung executive said that the company works very closely with Google's Android team and contributes a lot to stock Android. Its multi-window and Galaxy Themes features have been incorporated into stock Android over the past few years. The South Korean firm has been working even more closely with Google since the launch of its foldable phones.
Samsung's longer software support is also a part of its sustainability practices
Over the past few years, Samsung has tremendously improved its software update support. It was once considered pretty average, but it is now even better than Google regarding how many major updates it releases to its mid-range and high-end smartphones. The company's executive revealed apart from consumer trust, Samsung's newfound commitment to updates is also related to its sustainability practices. If consumers use phones for longer, it reduces the overall landfill and lowers Samsung's overall environmental impact.
Hyesoon (Sally) Jeong also revealed that the company has very efficient software development and testing processes, which is why it has been able to release updates to all its phones quickly.
