One UI 9.5 could let you create a custom widget based on an Android 17 feature

Several One UI 9.5 features have leaked over the past couple of weeks, including App Lock, improved UI designs for stock apps and widgets, and a new fingerprint animation. Now, another interesting One UI 9.5 feature has surfaced.

Tipster Fahad Ali Javed spotted that Samsung is developing a feature called My Custom Widget for One UI 9.5. This is likely based on the Create Your Own Widget tool developed by Google for Android 17. It allows users to select custom data and display it in a widget according to their preferred design and layout.

In the screenshot below, a user can pull information from select stock One UI apps, like Calendar and Messages, to create a custom widget that shares their travel plans with friends via text message. The widget seems to have a modular split layout.

The company introduced a similar feature to Now Brief—allowing users to create custom cards—with One UI 9.0 on the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 series.

Samsung has tweaked its One UI development strategy since last year. It now releases a new One UI x.0 update, based on the latest major Android update, in the second half of the year with minimal design changes or feature additions. It then follows it up with major visual overhauls and substantial new features in the first half of the year with a One UI x.5 update.

In line with this strategy, Samsung introduced One UI 9.0 last month alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 series, bringing very few new features or design tweaks. However, One UI 9.5 is expected to deliver significant design changes and new software capabilities when it launches early next year.