It was widely reported that Samsung would debut the Galaxy S23 series with Android 13-based One UI 5.1 onboard. A couple of days before the official announcement of the Galaxy S23, One UI 5.1 features have leaked in full, revealing what Samsung's new One UI version will bring to the table.
According to the One UI 5.1 changelog leaked by German publication WinFuture, One UI 5.1 will bring improved stock apps, family sharing albums in the Gallery app, easier access to the Expert RAW camera app, better AR Emojis and AR Zone, a new battery widget, Samsung Notes collaboration, improvements to multi-device controls, and small improvements to Samsung DeX.
Let us have a look at the complete One UI 5.1 changelog below.
One UI 5.1 features: Complete changelog
Camera
- Changing the hue for a selfie just got easier: Easily change the hue of your selfies with the Effects button on the side of the screen.
- Quick access to Expert RAW: The Expert RAW app allows you to capture high-quality images without any processing or compression, which is perfect for those who want to edit their photos later. Accessing Expert RAW is now easier from the Advanced menu.
Gallery
- Common family album: With Shared Family Album, sharing photos with your family is easier than ever. Gallery recommends adding photos to your shared family album by recognizing your family members' faces. You also get 5GB of storage per family member (up to 6 people).
- Improved handling: Processing automatically removes shadows and reflections to make your photos look great. You can also recreate GIFs for better resolution and clarity.
- Convenient information display: If you swipe up when viewing a picture or video in your gallery, you can see at a glance when and where the picture was taken, on which device, where it's stored, and more.
- Search has become more powerful: You can now search for more than one person or item at a time. You can even search for people without tagging their names, just by clicking on their faces.
- Choose a location to save screenshots: Now, you can save screenshots and screen recordings in a folder of your choice by setting it up in the advanced features.
AR Zone and AR Emoji
- Use 3 Emojis in AR Emoji Camera: Take fun photos and videos with friends (up to 3 people) in mask mode. You can replace your friends' faces with other characters by clicking the emoji.
- Layout and editing improvements in AR Doodles: The brushes are now available on the main AR Doodle screen for quicker access. You can also resize and move drawings after you create them, and the new eraser tool lets you erase just a portion of your drawings without completely erasing them.
Widgets
- New battery widget: With the new battery widget you can check the battery level of your Galaxy devices. Right from the home screen, you can see how much battery your smartphone, Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Watch, and other supported devices have left.
- Intuitive weather widget: The new illustration style and a summary of the current weather conditions make it easy to know the weather information, whether it's sunny, cloudy, raining, or snowing.
Modes and Scenarios
- Different wallpapers depending on the mode: Set different wallpapers on the lock screen and the home screen depending on your current activities. Choose a background for work, one for sport, and more by setting different modes.
- More conditions and actions for scenarios: Run scripts automatically when you turn on airplane mode or mobile hotspot. Scripts can now open some apps, adjust left/right audio balance, and more. New actions now let you control Quick Share and touch sensitivity and change the ringtone and font style.
Connectivity
- Collaboration in Samsung Notes: Create a shared note that multiple people can edit simultaneously. Write a report with colleagues, take notes for a study group, or draw a picture with a friend. The possibilities are endless.
- Inviting to shared apps made easy: Now you can easily invite people to shared albums, notes, and calendars using a link that can be shared across apps like messenger, email, and social networks.
- Advanced multiple controls between Galaxy Book and smartphone: Now you can use your Galaxy Book's mouse, keyboard, or trackpad not only with your Galaxy tablet but also with your Galaxy smartphone. You can easily copy and paste text and drag and drop images from one device to another as if it were the same device. (1)
- Media output for WiFi speakers: If you want to continue listening to music on Wi-Fi speakers via Spotify Connect and the built-in Chromecast, simply open the media output from the quick access toolbar, not the music apps. (2)
- Continue surfing on the PC: If you surf the Internet on your smartphone with Samsung Internet and then continue browsing on your PC, you can find the websites you opened on your smartphone and continue browsing them with the PC browser. (3)
Samsung DeX
- Improved multitasking in DeX: In split screen mode, you can now drag the splitter in the middle of the screen to resize both windows. You can also snap a window to one of its corners so that it takes up a quarter of the screen.
Settings
- Settings suggestions: Suggestions are now displayed at the top of the settings screen, letting you know about useful features to try or settings that need your attention so you can enable or try them immediately.
Samsung Internet
- Improved search: You can now search by a folder name in bookmarks or by group name in tabs. Improved search logic allows you to find what you're looking for, even if something is misspelled.
Setup Wizard
- Faster and easier initial setup of your new Galaxy: If you're switching to a new Galaxy from a Galaxy or other Android device, simply scan the QR code on your old device to automatically migrate your Wi-Fi networks, Samsung account, and Google account to the new one Device to transfer without typing anything. (4)
Weather
- Detailed weather information at a glance: Useful weather information is now displayed on the Weather app's main screen. You can check severe weather alerts, daily weather reports, hourly precipitation, and color temperature charts.
Calls
- Bixby Text Call: Use Bixby Text Call to automatically answer calls and find out the purpose of the call. You'll see what the caller is saying in a text chat, and you can tap or type replies to have them read aloud to the caller. Bixby text calls are only available in English and Korean.
Footnotes:
(1) The Multicontroller is only available on select Galaxy phones, Galaxy Tabs, and Galaxy Book devices. It works on tablets with One UI 4.1 or later, phones with One UI 5.1 or later, and the Galaxy Book series released in 2021 or later with Samsung v1.5 (Intel) or Samsung Settings v3.3 (ARM). Feature availability may vary by device model.
(2) The Wi-Fi speaker needs to be configured in advance to connect the Wi-Fi speaker. Chromecast Built-in is a trademark of Google LLC
(3) This function requires a PC running Windows 20H1 or later, and the phone connection and Windows connection need to be updated to the latest version.
(4) Only available for Galaxy S23 series and above with BLE technology.
A few weeks after the launch of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung could bring One UI 5.1 to most smartphones running Android 13-based One UI 5.0 software.
