One UI 9 on the Galaxy S26 series: Here’s what’s changed

One UI 9 brings Android 17 and several new features to the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, including more Galaxy AI tools and additional customization options.

The S26 series launched with One UI 8.5, so some features you may have seen in One UI 9 coverage were already available on these phones. Others give S26 owners something new to try.

Here’s a closer look at what changes on the Galaxy S26 series with One UI 9, including a few useful additions available through Samsung’s apps.

One UI 9 brings Call Brief to the Galaxy S26 series. It displays relevant information on the call screen, saving you from opening another app to look something up.

For example, when calling someone overseas, it can show their country and local time. The information that appears depends on what the phone finds relevant, so you won’t necessarily see a card during every call.

My FanCam is another addition, and probably one of the most entertaining features to try. It takes an existing video and creates a cropped version that follows a person you select.

Open a video in Gallery, move to a point where the person is clearly visible, tap the Galaxy AI icon, and select My FanCam. Choose the person, orientation, and aspect ratio, then tap Follow. You can save the result as a copy while keeping the original recording.

Then there are custom cards for Now Brief. You can create up to three cards using weather, health, or video information and choose when they should appear.

A weather card could bring together the forecast, rain chances, wind conditions, and sunrise and sunset times. A health card could show your Energy Score, sleep information, steps, and recent activity.

Choose the information you want, set the days and time, and generate the card. Now Brief shows a preview before you save it, including how it will appear in your briefing.

The brightness and volume controls look slightly chunkier in One UI 9, and Samsung gives you more options for resizing them and the media player. You can also separate the sound mode button from the volume slider.

If you already use Good Lock’s QuickStar module, some of this may feel familiar. QuickStar already offered additional control over panel sizing. The built-in changes are more useful for anyone who wants to customize the Quick Panel without installing another app.

The new Warranty and care section in device settings brings together warranty information, diagnostics, repair requests, and remote support.

It can also show warranty information for other Galaxy devices linked to your Samsung account, making it easier to check coverage without looking up each device separately.

If something isn’t working properly, you can run diagnostics or ask Bixby for help from the same menu. Repair and remote support options are also available there, although the services offered can vary by market.

We had to search for Warranty and care on our Galaxy S26 Ultra, so try that if you can’t find it while browsing the main Settings menu.

One UI 9 adds Bixby widgets in three sizes. They provide quick access to voice and text input, so you can ask a question without first opening Bixby separately.

You can also expand the interface and access your previous conversations. To add a widget, pinch the home screen, open Widgets, and find Bixby.

The widgets largely offer the same functions, so choose whichever size fits your home screen best.

The camera changes are relatively limited. Features such as 24MP photography and Super Steady video with Horizontal Lock were already available on the S26 series with One UI 8.5.

One UI 9 adds a horizontal or vertical split-layout choice to the Dual Recording mode. This gives you another way to arrange the two camera feeds when recording a scene and your reaction together.

Dual Recording itself isn’t new. It already lets you capture two camera feeds simultaneously and save them together or as separate files. The separate recordings capture the same moment with synchronized audio, which can be useful when editing footage later.

The new layout choice gives you more control over how the combined video looks.

You’ll find Driving Report under Settings > Connected devices.

The feature uses location information and a Bluetooth connection to your car to analyze journeys and provide information about your driving habits. Once configured, it can record driving information automatically.

If you regularly drive, it’s worth checking what your completed reports show. It may also be useful if you keep track of journeys for work, though you should first check whether it records the particular information you need.

One UI 9 makes it easier to move apps between Samsung DeX desktops and switch between them.

You can move an app window to another desktop using the menu at the top of the window. Desktop previews also appear at the top of the Recents screen, letting you switch with a single tap.

These are small changes, but useful if you organize different tasks across separate desktops instead of keeping everything in one workspace.

DeX settings also include an option to automatically hide the status bar and taskbar, leaving more room for your apps.

One of the most useful features lives inside Good Lock’s Home Up module.

Its multi finger gestures let you assign actions to gestures performed with your chosen number of fingers. For example, you can use a pinch-out gesture to launch AI Select or a multi-finger long press to open the Quick Panel.

That second option is particularly handy on a large phone such as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, where reaching the top of the display isn’t always comfortable.

Home Up also lets you adjust gesture recognition settings, including swipe distance, and choose whether to use vibration or a glow effect for feedback. You can disable the gestures while the keyboard is displayed to reduce accidental activation.

Open Home Up’s gesture settings to explore the available combinations. These shortcuts require the module and won’t automatically become active just because you installed One UI 9.

Samsung Health takes up a substantial part of the One UI 9 changelog, with a redesigned interface, improved charts, and more control over the information on its home screen.

However, those changes started arriving through a Samsung Health app update before the stable One UI 9 release. You may already have them even if you only recently updated your phone.

The update also includes accessibility improvements, such as Text spotlight for enlarging selected text and Select to speak for reading on-screen content aloud without enabling full TalkBack.

For Galaxy S26 owners, One UI 9 builds on the already excellent and capable One UI 8.5 experience. The biggest reasons to explore it are the additional AI tools and smaller conveniences that can make everyday tasks easier.