One UI 5 Beta and Android 13 go live for the Galaxy S21 in the US

Owners of a Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ or Galaxy S21 Ultra in the US can now join the Android 13 and One UI 5 Beta program. At least one of our readers joined the program this morning and updated.

After seeing the beta program go live for users in the UK and Korea late last month, US users have their turn via the Samsung Members app. Right now, we know for sure that unlocked models have access to it, but we’ll have to let carrier models open the app and check for themselves if the program will let them in.

If available, the Samsung Members app will look like the image below, with a banner at the top that reads “One UI Beta Program” and “Be the first to enjoy the latest Galaxy experience, One UI 5 with Android 13 !” It then lists supported devices, which include the entire Galaxy S21 series.

The update is large and comes in the form of the G991U1UEU5ZVIA build, at least for the standard S21. The ZVIA version is apparently newer than the version received by those in the UK and Korea. It might actually look more like a One UI 5 Beta 2 release. That’s according to reddit users, who like our reader, also see the update.

As for features, you’ll find more choices of custom color palette themes to suit your wallpaper, stackable widgets, Android 13’s notification controls, the ability to extract text from n any image or screen, an improved taskbar in DeX, easier split-screen action, and Suite. You can view the full list here.

Well done Keith!