One UI 9 spruces up the lock screen media player widget

Yesterday, we shared visuals from the first internal build of One UI 9 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Since it is an early build, it includes only minor UI changes compared to One UI 8.5, which recently debuted with the Galaxy S26 series. However, we have now noticed another change that enhances the lock screen media player widget.

In One UI 9, the media player widget on the lock screen features more colorful waveform graphics on the progress bar. Similar visuals also appear at the bottom of the Now Bar widget when music is playing. Below the album art, there is a new option labeled “This Phone.” Tapping it reveals available casting options, such as Google Cast-compatible smart speakers and TVs or Alexa-compatible devices, depending on the app.

Below the progress bar, key music controls such as previous track, play or pause, and next track are displayed as circular buttons. Other controls, such as shuffle or options like downloading a track in Spotify, do not use circular containers. Another noticeable change is that the track title, artist name, and album information are now overlaid on top of the album art, rather than being displayed below it as in previous versions.

In comparison, One UI 8.5 groups all these controls inside a rectangular container with rounded corners. Additionally, the Now Bar media player widget in One UI 8.5 does not feature waveform graphics on the lock screen. The “Media Output” option in One UI 8.5 has also been replaced by the “This Phone” option in One UI 9.