Everything new coming to your Galaxy phones

Thanks to a detailed leak from WinFuture, we now have a good sense of the new One UI 5.1 features and changes. The software will bring a number of functional improvements instead of significant design changes. We’ve pasted the complete leaked One UI 5.1 changelog at the end of this article. For now, let’s talk about some of the most prominent changes the new software is set to bring.

The Gallery app is set to get the most number of new features with One UI 5.1 You can now share albums with your family members. The app will recommend photos to add to your family albums by recognizing members’ faces using AI. For what it’s worth, Google Photos already has this feature. Samsung will give you 5GB of free media storage per family member for up to six people.

Searching in the Gallery app is also becoming more convenient. You can now look up more than one person at a time. You can also search for people using their faces instead of their tagged names.

In the Camera app, One UI 5.1 will bring a way to easily change the hue of selfies with the Effects button on the side of the screen. The Expert RAW app will also be easily accessible now from the Advanced menu.

The AR Emoji Camera is also getting more capable with One UI 5.1. It will now let you take photos with up to three people in Mask mode, where you can replace faces with emojis.

Elsewhere, there’s a new battery widget in One UI 5.1. It lets you check the battery level of your phone and other connected Galaxy devices, like your Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds, and more, right from your home screen.

You’ll also be able to set different wallpapers on the lock screen and home screen depending on the mode you’ve chosen on your phone. So you can have different backgrounds for work, sports, and more by setting different modes.

One Galaxy S23 exclusive feature will make it easier to set up your new phone if you’re switching from an older Galaxy or other Android phone. It uses Bluetooth Low energy to help you migrate your Wi-Fi networks, Samsung account, and Google account to the new device by scanning a QR code on your old device. Another new One UI 5.1 feature called “AI Restoration” is planned for the Galaxy S23 series as per the leak. However, it hasn’t been detailed in the 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, 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 photos to add 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, as well as change the ringtone and font style.

Connectivity

• Collaboration in Samsung Notes: Create a shared note that multiple people can edit at the same time. 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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 right away.

Samsung Internet

• Improved search: You can now search by 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.

Weather

• Detailed weather information at a glance: Useful weather information is now displayed on the main screen of the Weather app. You can check severe weather alerts, daily weather reports, hourly precipitation and color temperature charts.

Calls

• Bixby text calls: Use Bixby text calls 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.

One UI 5.1 availability

According to information accidentally put out by Samsung itself, One UI 5.1 would be coming to “flagship models released after Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip.” This means the update should be headed to the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy S22 series, and nearly all of Samsung’s foldables, including the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Since the software will debut with the Galaxy S23 series in February, it should start showing up on older Galaxy phones by March.