Waiting for One UI 3.5? You might never get it

If the latest rumor is to be believed, there may be no version 3.5 of Samsung's One UI later this year. We've been expecting Samsung's new flagships that will launch in the second half of the year to come with One UI 3.5, in line with how the flagships that launched a year back debuted with One UI 2.5 and the ones in 2019 launched running One UI 1.5. Well, things could get a little complex this year, with Samsung reportedly working on One UI 3.1.1 before it eventually debuts One UI 4.0 with the Android 12 update.

3.1.1 could be the next One UI release

The information comes from leakster Ice universe, though there's no reason given for why Samsung is suddenly changing the way it assigns version numbers to One UI releases. If we had to guess, it could have something to do with the fact that Samsung is launching considerably fewer flagship phones this year than it has in the last couple of years. There's no new Note series incoming in 2021, and the Galaxy S21 FE has reportedly been delayed, leaving only Samsung's two new foldable phones.

It's possible those foldables will not have enough new features, at least not those that will arrive on non-folding devices, to warrant a big enough One UI version jump. Or, well, Samsung is simply changing how it does things and will do away with x.5 One UI releases altogether. In any case, if One UI 3.1.1 is what's next, we can expect Samsung to bring it to many of its smartphones and tablets before it starts rolling out Android 12 and One UI 4.0. However, nothing is confirmed at this point, so take everything with a pinch of salt.