One UI 5 builds on Android 13’s theme options, offering up to 16 preset color themes based on your wallpaper and 12 additional color options for the home screen, icons, and quick panels. It also introduces a way of stacking similarly sized widgets on top of each other which is supposed to help create a less cluttered look. One UI 5 beta lets you stack widgets on top of each other. Image: Samsung There are also some new accessibility features, including a magnifying glass tool that uses the phone’s camera to zoom in on real-life objects and text, as well as options to have your phone read your keyboard input aloud. Samsung details several other features that One UI 5 has adopted from Android 13, such as new notification settings that require app developers to ask for your permission before sending you notifications. One UI 5 beta also lets you set your preferred language per app and gives you access to a redesigned security dashboard that scans your phone for potential issues. One UI 5’s new security control panel was adopted by Android 13. Image: Samsung When Samsung released the One UI 4 beta last year, it highlighted how it releases updates earlier each year. This time, Samsung has widened the gap between its previous update even further, pushing back the September 2021 One UI 4 beta release date by just over a month. As with Samsung’s previous One UI betas, you can access the One UI 5 update by signing up through the Samsung Members app. While the One UI 5 beta is only available on S22 devices in the US, Germany, and South Korea right now, 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 launch a number of new devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Buds Pro 2.
