Samsung’s One UI 8.5 Beta Is Now Officially Available

If you’re bored with your Galaxy phone, changes are on the horizon. Samsung announced One UI 8.5 on Monday, December 8, the latest update for Galaxy devices. At the moment, this new update is only available in beta, but some Galaxy users can try it out right now. Here’s what’s new, according to Samsung.

Proactive quick sharing

With One UI 8.5, Quick Share can automatically identify people in photos. Although it sounds a little creepy, the idea is to proactively offer sharing recommendations to people who appear in a given photo. Say you tap Quick Share on a family photo you took over the weekend. Rather than manually entering all the contacts you want to share this image with, the feature can identify each one and automatically suggest sending the image to those contacts. This should make it faster to share photos with groups of people after you’ve taken them, but, again, it’s a bit unsettling.

Photo Assist Updates

Credit: Samsung

The Photo Assist feature in the Gallery app is getting some upgrades in One UI 8.5. Starting with this release, Photo Assist now supports “non-stop editing”. This means you can make your AI-generated edits without needing to save them between each edit. Previously, each edit produced an entirely new image, making the functionality a little more like a traditional photo editor. Additionally, you will be able to see all the AI ​​images you have created in your edit history and choose the one you like the most.

Note: Samsung states that Photo Assist’s Generate Edit feature requires an Internet connection as well as a Samsung account sign-in. The feature also places a watermark on the image, so other people know it was manipulated or generated with AI.

Audio streaming

Credit: Samsung

One UI 8.5 now supports sharing audio with other devices via Auracast, following Google’s broader support for the standard in September. If you have LE Audio supported devices, like headphones or speakers, you can use audio streaming to share media from your Galaxy. This isn’t limited to music, podcasts, or video audio either, as Samsung says you can stream your Galaxy’s microphone to LE Audio devices as well.

This feature is limited to Galaxy S25 devices, even after One UI 8.5 rolls out to other Galaxy phones.

Storage Sharing

Credit: Samsung

If you have multiple Samsung Galaxy devices, storage sharing might be useful to you. This One UI 8.5 feature lets you manage your files on other devices, including tablets, PCs, and even TVs, in the My Files app on your smartphone.

Enhanced Security Controls

Samsung is also expanding One UI security features with this latest beta. The company is rolling out updates to Theft Protection with One UI 8.5, an existing feature that can lock your device if lost or stolen. This way, whoever recovers it will not have access to your data or be able to erase the device and configure it as their own. In the same vein, Samsung is also launching Failed Authentication Lock, which locks the screen after too many failed verification attempts. If a thief tries too many PIN combinations or the fingerprint reader fails too many times, your screen will lock them.

How to try the beta on your Galaxy

Although you can apply for the beta program today, consider the risks first. Like all beta software, this version of One UI is currently in testing, which means there may be bugs and issues that could interrupt your experience using your smartphone. If you understand these risks (and save all important information in advance), here’s what you need to know.

First, this beta is only open to Galaxy S25 users in the United States, Germany, India, Korea, Poland, and the United Kingdom. If you have an S24 or earlier, you’ll have to wait until Samsung rolls out the One UI 8.5 beta more widely, or until the full version becomes available later.

Next, you will need to apply to join the beta from the Samsung Members app. If you don’t have the app yet, download it from the Play Store, then follow the instructions to sign up for the beta.