Arrives earlier than usual this year
Not only has Samsung set the bar high with its software update commitments, but it also manages to push Android updates to its devices faster than almost anyone else. While no one is dropping day-one updates with Pixel phones, the gap has narrowed noticeably, especially from its TouchWiz days. Before Samsung ships a major new version of Android and One UI, we tend to see a few months of testing, and for One UI 4 with Android 12 last year, Samsung kicked off its beta program in September. The company reportedly intends to do even better this year and could release the first Android 13-based One UI 5 beta by July.
The tentative schedule comes from sources at SamMobile, who note that while the current target is July, there could still be delays. While there’s no word on an ETA for the eventual public release, an early beta program could allow Samsung to get it ready much sooner than usual. For reference, last year the One UI 4 beta program was announced in September, followed by the public release in mid-November.
Google released Android 13 to us in February as a developer preview. The first public beta of the Pixel phones is expected to drop later this month, with the operating system reaching platform stability in July and the final release occasionally coming after that. It took Google a little longer than expected last year to release Android 12, and it’s entirely possible we could see it do something similar this time around. It could further allow Samsung to close the gap between the public release of Android 13 for Pixel phones and its own releases for Galaxy devices.
The Android 13 timeline also means the Korean company’s next foldables – the Fold4 and Flip4 – won’t launch with One UI 5. Instead, this report claims they’ll likely run One UI 4.1. 1 based on Android 12L with specific foldable improvements in tow. This shouldn’t be surprising since that’s exactly what happened last year as well – the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3 launched with One UI 3.1.1 based on Android 11 and were updated to Android 12 a few months later.
According to Samsung’s track record, the One UI 5/Android 13 open beta should be available for the Galaxy S22 series first. The program will likely slowly expand to all regions and more devices in the coming months.
Read more
About the Author