Samsung is now teasing the release of One UI 7—its Android 15 deployment, albeit only in beta form. It is now expected that this could turn up next week, at least for owners of eligible devices in the US and Korea.
“After months of delays,” SamMobile reports, “Samsung is expected to release the One UI 7.0 beta update next week.” But Android Authority suggests caution: “If you’re okay with running a beta release on your daily driver smartphone (we don’t recommend this), you’ll be glad to learn that One UI 7 beta builds could be right around the corner.” We know this won’t be released in stable form until 2025.
As speculation intensifies as to what’s in and what’s out of Samsung One UI 7 build, Google has just upped the stakes again. Pixel owners are already months ahead of their Galaxy friends and family when it comes to getting hold of Android 15, and the latest update from Google suddenly raises two critical questions for Samsung users.
On Wednesday, Google confirmed that Pixel owners will now have access to two major new security upgrades. Scam call protection uses on-device AI to listen in to calls, triggering alerts when it hears language typical that suggest a fraud may be taking place—for example a bank asking for information they shouldn’t.
Fraudulent calls are an increasing nightmare for people the world over. Just last week, CBP warned that “telephone scammers are targeting residents nationwide to gain personal information that would bypass financial security protocols.” And earlier this year, voice call platform Hiya warned that such is the state of the threat, that more than 90% of people now assume unidentified calls are fraudulent.
But Google’s other new Android update is even more critical. Live threat protection is now live for Pixel users. This again uses on-device AI to flag potentially malicious apps in real time, offering users the option to disable or delete those apps. Until now, it’s only when apps have been flagged centrally by Play Protect that action is taken.
Google says that both updates “are now available on Pixel 6+ devices and will be coming to additional phone makers in the coming months.” What we don’t know, though, is whether they’re coming to Samsung devices. When live threat detection was announced earlier in the year, Samsung was absent from the list of Android OEMs that were confirmed to be rolling out the update. I have asked Samsung for confirmation on the security and privacy upgrades in One UI 7.
So, two big new questions for Galaxy owners still waiting for Android 15. And perhaps a third and more serious question is how the Pixel versus Galaxy battle will evolve over the coming months. Samsung’s Android 15 delay and the delay to some critical updates—as seen with the recent Qualcomm zero-day—highlight the challenges in the Android model versus Apple’s full-scale control. The concern for Samsung is that Google can exercise similar levels of Apple-like control for Pixels.
Ironically, Samsung has just released a new ad targeting iPhone and its perceived lack of innovation. Possibly ill-timed given these ongoing delays.