Samsung has officially announced the stable One UI 9 update at the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in London. It comes pre-installed on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8. Based on Android 17, the One UI 9 update combines everything Samsung confirmed during the beta programme with a fresh set of Galaxy AI features. Here is a complete look at every One UI 9 feature confirmed so far along with the leaked ones that are still unofficial.
Complete List of One UI 9 Features on Samsung Phones
The stable One UI 9 update starts rolling out with the new foldables, which go on sale on August 7, 2026. Samsung has not announced a rollout timeline for existing Galaxy devices yet, but as we mentioned in our One UI 9 eligible devices list, the Galaxy S26 series is expected to receive the stable build in August itself. Now, let's check out a bunch of new One UI 9 features.
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Gemini Intelligence
Let's start with the biggest One UI 9 feature. Gemini Intelligence brings agentic AI to Samsung phones with One UI 9. Instead of executing one task at a time, it can chain several steps together from a single prompt.
So you can ask it to check movie tickets, compare showtimes and complete the booking. It handles the entire flow on its own across more than 40 supported apps and services. It can also read what is on your screen.
Note that the feature requires a flagship-grade chipset, at least 12GB of RAM and Gemini Nano v3 support. That is why Gemini Intelligence is launching on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Z Fold 8 Ultra for now. If you want the full list of AI additions, go ahead and check out our One UI 9 Galaxy AI features list.
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Gemini Notebook
Gemini Notebook is natively coming to Samsung phones via One UI 9. You can dump your notes, screenshots, voice recordings, PDFs and links into one place and Gemini processes all of it together.
From there, you can generate an audio overview, a meeting recap, an infographic or even a complete document. If you have used NotebookLM before, this will feel familiar and it now lives natively on your Samsung phone.
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Smarter Now Nudge and Customisable Now Brief
Now Nudge debuted with One UI 8.5 and it's one of the One UI 9 features that has improved with the new update. It analyses the situation on your screen and shows a relevant shortcut before you go looking for it.
Are you texting a friend about weekend plans? A Calendar prompt appears. If you are debating where to meet, it offers to pull up Maps. On the new foldables, tapping a nudge opens the suggested app in split view so your conversation stays on screen.
Now Brief has also improved in this release. You now get to decide which categories of updates it shows and each card carries quick-action buttons. You can basically start navigation, play music or open a calendar entry straight from the brief itself.
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My FanCam
My FanCam is one of the more niche One UI 9 features and it's built for a very specific crowd. My FanCam takes a wide group video and locks onto one person. It automatically keeps them framed as they move around.
The whole thing happens inside the Gallery app and you can export the tracked clip in a different aspect ratio, which is perfect for vertical social media posts. iPhone users will recognise the core idea from Centre Stage, but Samsung has clearly designed this one for concert and K-pop fancam footage.
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Customisable Quick Settings Panel
Let's start with the Quick Panel customisation options. It got a major overhaul with One UI 8.5, and now with One UI 9, Samsung is bringing even more personalisation options. Samsung has confirmed that you can rearrange and customise the Quick Panel controls and resize the brightness slider, volume slider and media player sections with more size options to choose from.
You can, in fact, resize all the elements on the Quick Settings panel. There's also a structural change in which Samsung is separating the sound mode button from the volume slider. It gives you more flexibility in how the Quick Panel is laid out. Earlier, there was a leak that showed that Samsung was decoupling toggles from sliders and the latest One UI 9 update confirms it.
New Tape Feature in Samsung Notes
The Tape feature in Samsung Notes is truly a new addition in One UI 9. Samsung Notes is getting a new Tape feature that lets you cover parts of your notes with digital tape and reveal them when needed. It's basically a clever way to hide sensitive information when sharing a screenshot.
Think of it like the redaction feature built right into Samsung Notes. The update also adds a variety of new tapes and pen styles for writing and drawing, which should be helpful for journaling, classroom notes or creative work.
Creative Studio in the Contacts App
Samsung debuted Creative Studio with One UI 8.5, and now with One UI 9, the company is integrating it into the stock Contacts app. This lets you create personalised profile cards for your contacts without having to switch between apps, which makes the whole process more seamless. You can enter a prompt, and Creative Studio generates a cool profile card and image which can be saved for any contact.
You can also customise the style, text, effect and image in numerous ways. It is a relatively small addition but a useful feature if you like personalising how your contacts show up on your Samsung phone.
Refreshed Media Player
With the new update, the One UI 9 media player is being revamped and getting a more dynamic and colourful look. The biggest change is that the seek bar now reflects the colour palette of the album art. It replaces the current static white bar with a more fluid and visually appealing progress indicator. It also brings circular control buttons and waveform animations when music is playing.
Game Booster Panel Improvements
Those who love playing games on their Samsung phones will love this feature. One UI 9 adds important settings to the Game Booster panel. It now lets you adjust screen resolution, screenshot format and other settings directly without leaving the game.
You can also check FPS, CPU and GPU usage, disable auto brightness and change the performance mode. Earlier, you had to exit the game or open the Game Booster app separately to tweak these settings, but now everything sits inside the game as an overlay.
Location Access Transparency
This is a privacy-focused feature coming to One UI 9, and it's directly imported from Android 17. On One UI 9, a blue indicator will appear at the status bar whenever an app accesses your location. You can tap the indicator in the Quick Settings panel to see exactly which app is using your location. It's similar to the green dot indicator Android already shows for camera and microphone access, and it's a good step for privacy transparency.
Seamless Screen and Foldable Multitasking
Some of the best One UI 9 features are limited to the new hardware. Since the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has switched to a wide form factor, Samsung has built Seamless Screen specifically for it. You can rotate the phone and the content is adjusted on the fly so a video or an article never ends up awkwardly cropped on the large inner display.
Multitasking has also improved across the board. One UI 9 supports both two-app and three-app split screen layouts and thanks to Android 17's app bubble support, any app can now run in a floating window.
And with FlexWindow support on One UI 9, the Galaxy Z Flip 8's cover screen behaves much more like a proper Home screen. An upward swipe reveals an app tray and a downward swipe brings notifications and the Quick Panel. Widgets can also be added or rearranged right there on the cover display. You can get things done a lot without ever opening the phone.
Major Accessibility Upgrades
Just like on Android 17, One UI 9 is also getting major accessibility upgrades. First off, Text Spotlight lets you tap on any text to enlarge it and highlight it in its own floating window. You can also customise font size and colours. Next, Select to Speak allows you to pick any item on the screen, including text or images, and hear it read without turning on TalkBack.
Physical keyboard shortcuts are also new, which let you control accessibility settings without touching the screen. The Mouse Keys feature has been enhanced with adjustable speed and acceleration controls. Not to mention, you can now use the keyboard's number pad to point and click.
Warranty & Care Hub
Samsung has been working on a new Warranty & Care app for One UI 9 that could simplify the after-sales experience for Galaxy users. The new app shows the warranty status of your Samsung phone as well as a troubleshooting search bar and a diagnostics shortcut. You can also get repair cost estimates and schedule and track service centre visits in real time.
Not to mention, Bixby is also tied into this app, so you can ask for help via voice commands instead of navigating through menus. Finally, Samsung Care+ subscriptions can be managed from the same place too.
Enhanced Privacy Alerts and Malicious Site Protection
On the security front, One UI 9 monitors app behaviour using on-device intelligence. If an app requests background permissions it has no business asking for or unnecessarily asks your precise location, you get an alert.
Samsung Internet also gains a machine learning-based defence against dangerous websites. If you tap a shady link, the browser shows a warning before the page even loads. Samsung has also improved its Auto Blocker feature, which can now detect high-risk apps, warn you before installation and block the app from installing or running.
One UI 9 Features That Remain Unconfirmed
While Samsung confirmed a long list of additions at Unpacked 2026, several leaked One UI 9 features did not make an appearance. Here are some of those features.
Glassier Translucent UI Effects
Although the latest One UI 9 Beta doesn't bring any visual changes, it has been reported since One UI 8.5 that Samsung is working to adopt a translucent, glass-like visual design. While One UI 9 doesn't have this effect, it's being said that future versions will have background blur for several system elements, including the Quick Settings panel, volume sliders, notification shade and more.
It's not as aggressive as Apple's Liquid Glass design language from iOS 26, but it makes the UI look more modern and in line with 2026's design language.
Tap to Share
Samsung has been working on an AirDrop-like file-sharing experience via NFC inside Quick Share and the feature was spotted in action in a leaked One UI 9 build running on Android 17. While Gallery, Quick Share or the share panel is open, you can simply tap your phone against another supported device and the selected files transfer instantly.
If you do it from the home screen, the phones swap contact profiles instead, similar to how NameDrop allows transferring contacts between iPhones. Note that Tap to Share looks like an Android 17 feature and may not be limited to Samsung phones. Google has been working on a similar "Gesture Exchange" implementation inside Play Services, which suggests the feature could eventually roll out to non-Samsung Android phones too.
That said, Tap to Share didn't get a mention at Unpacked or in the official One UI 9 features list. It could still arrive via a later update, but nothing is official yet.
Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) for Better Security
Samsung was reportedly bringing ARM's Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) to Galaxy phones with One UI 9, which could make Galaxy phones a lot harder to hack. As we reported earlier, the One UI 9 Memory Tagging feature was spotted in pre-release builds with a dedicated toggle inside the Auto Blocker app.
Thanks to this security feature, Galaxy phones could patch memory leaks and make memory-level bugs harder to exploit. However, MTE was not announced at Unpacked 2026, so it remains unconfirmed for the stable release.
Material Detection for Samsung Foldables
We know that Samsung foldables accumulate debris and dust which may damage the inner display. A Foreign Material Detection feature was spotted in leaked One UI 9 builds, which was designed to warn users when their foldable doesn't fold completely because of foreign particles like dust or debris.
Interestingly, the leaked code strings referenced the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8. However, Samsung didn't mention Foreign Material Detection at the event, so it's unclear if the feature made the final cut.
These are all the One UI 9 features confirmed so far, based on Samsung's official Unpacked announcement and the beta changelogs. Samsung is still expanding the update, so expect more Galaxy AI capabilities to arrive in the coming months.
