Strap yourselves in for a bit of unexpected news. As Samsung is rolling out new One UI 5.0 beta updates left and right, the company appears to be hinting at the development of One UI 5.1. Samsung briefly mentioned this upcoming One UI version that should succeed One UI 5.0 in a blog post published on the official portal for the Netherlands.
More specifically, Samsung detailed a handful of One UI 5 characteristics earlier today, but what interests us at this very moment is the fine print attached to the blog post. It says that one feature, in particular, will be arriving with One UI 5.1 rather than version 5.0. Said feature pertains to the lock screen customization options that we've seen in One UI 5.0 beta, but it's not entirely clear which elements might be reserved for One UI 5.1 — if any.
Judging by the state of the One UI 5.0 beta update, all the new lock screen customization options should be coming with this version of One UI once it exits the beta stages. And since Samsung doesn't provide any additional information, this could go a bunch of ways. Samsung mentioning One UI 5.1 may be a mistake. But in the worst-case scenario, the company may feel like the new lock screen customization options — or elements of it — will not be ready for public release alongside One UI 5.0. Hence, they might be pushed back to One UI 5.1.
One UI 5.1 might already be in the works
Evidently, this official bit of news suggests that Samsung may have already started developing One UI 5.1 behind closed doors. We've yet to see any evidence of this, but judging by the company's previous updates, the possibility that version 5.1 will succeed One UI 5.0 seems high.
As a matter of fact, chances are that the Galaxy S23 series will ship with One UI 5.1 rather than One UI 5.0. Furthermore, One UI 5.1 might debut on the 2023 flagship phones without a public beta update preceding it.
Whatever the case may be, we're hoping that the lock screen customization options we've seen in One UI 5.0 beta will be present in the final public release once it rolls out. Time will tell, and as always, we'll keep you posted as soon as we find out more.
For the moment, Samsung is rolling out the fifth One UI 5.0 beta for the Galaxy S22 series in select markets, and the public roll-out might commence on October 24-25.
