Samsung quietly dropped a brilliant new Privacy Display feature for Galaxy S26 Ultra users with the One UI 9 Beta 4 update. The software is already here, but it didn’t manage to come to users’ radar, so Samsung had to notify users.

One UI 9 Beta 4 brings Galaxy S26 Ultra users a PIP Privacy Display feature. Since the Privacy Display technology is exclusive to the Ultra models, the new feature added in the fourth Beta is only compatible with the top-tier flagship.

One UI 9 brings the PIP Privacy Display feature

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra users can now use Privacy Display on floating app windows. This expansion came as part of the Beta 4 update’s rollout.

In a new Samsung Members notice, Samsung informed Galaxy S26 Ultra users about the addition of this new Privacy Display upgrade, which further expands the use of the screen technology.

PIP, better known as Picture-in-Picture, is a well-known feature on Android phones. Compatible apps, mainly video streaming platforms, offer a floating app window. It helps you keep the streaming running while accessing other apps.

Privacy Display already had an option to dim out the screen on user-selected apps. Samsung may have received user feedback, which led the device to add another brilliant layer of protection.

PIP screen triggered by apps protected with Privacy Display will also get darkened. YouTube, for example, is one of the most used apps, naturally making the PiP mode a high-saturation feature.

The floating window launched by a protected app will now have a Privacy Display layer. The visibility of the PIP window will go down significantly, keeping it difficult to be viewed from side angles.

There are no specific settings for the PIP Privacy Display. Just protect an app that launches a PiP window, such as YouTube. Once the floating window will appear, the system will run Privacy Display to protect the specific area.

Samsung is set to launch the One UI 9.0 Stable version with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Flip 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra tomorrow. The company has scheduled an Unpacked event for July 22 in London, where several unveilings will take place.

Google last year confirmed the changes in the Android distribution timeline. The company has shifted Android’s development and testing windows. The distribution was set for the third quarter, shifting from the fourth quarter.

This shift has handed Samsung and other vendors early access to the latest version of the Android operating system. Samsung turned out to be the biggest beneficiary, shipping its new OS-based One UI almost a product lineup earlier.

Samsung continues the 2025 legacy

It started with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7 last year. The two foldable phones, which were meant to come with Android 15-based One UI 7.1.1, officially debuted with the Android 16-based One UI 8.0 instead.

Now, Samsung is continuing the strategy, with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8 coming with Android 17-based One UI 9.0 preinstalled.

The official reveal is set to take place tomorrow at the Unpacked event. You can watch the event live on your smartphone or from your living room’s smart TV through YouTube.

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Samsung will start the public rollout in the first week of August 2026. The software will be kept exclusive to the new foldable phones for a while.

The South Korean tech giant is expected to run the One UI 9 Beta Program on the Galaxy S26 series in the month of August as well. Existing devices should start getting the advancements through software updates by September.

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Samsung has completed the One UI 8.5 rollout without publicly revealing an update schedule. Meanwhile, the Android 17-based One UI 9.0 update may not miss a release date chart, but it’s less likely to be confirmed at Unpacked event.

One UI 9 Beta Program has been running since the start of May 2026. Users of the Galaxy S26 series have early access to the software in six countries. A broader Beta Program is unavailable, which is pretty disappointing for users.

One UI 9.0 release date schedule unlikely at Unpacked

Well, Samsung is set to unveil One UI 9.0 at the Unpacked event. The software will have a dedicated showcase running on the latest foldable phones. It will be a full reveal, showcasing what Samsung kept away from Beta participants.

Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8, and Fold 8 Ultra will start shipping in the first week of August 2026. It will mark the stable release for users worldwide. Meanwhile, existing phones, foldables, and tablets will have to wait a bit longer.

Every year, we expect Samsung to announce a software rollout plan at the Unpacked event. However, the company doesn’t proceed with that approach.

That said, Samsung is unlikely to reveal One UI 9.0 release date chart for users having older Galaxy devices at the July 22 Unpacked event. Users will have to wait till the Beta testing concludes, and then a roadmap will arrive.

When to expect One UI 9.0 rollout?

Stable One UI 9.0 will begin rolling out in early August, starting with the new foldable phones. You can get the software immediately after its release by purchasing one of the three new foldable smartphones.

Galaxy S26 series will be the first to receive the Stable update. Older models, such as the S25 and S24 series, as well as the Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, may first be invited to a Beta testing program before moving to the Stable build.

That said, Galaxy S26 series could get the official update by the end of August or the beginning of September.

Samsung is testing One UI 9.0 for the Galaxy S26 series, but a recent leak gave us a glimpse of the feature set for old Galaxy devices, including one that caught my eye for obvious reasons.

Despite keeping the public beta campaign limited to the S26 models, Samsung is internally testing firmware for existing smartphones such as the Galaxy S25 series and more.

This has allowed firmware enthusiasts to crack down on its new capabilities, such as the new horizontal lock for the camera. This feature made its debut with the Galaxy S26 series and may enter the Galaxy S25 lineup. New agentic AI and other functions will also come to older Galaxy devices, but the extent of model support is unknown.

Among these is the new home screen finder, which is also the first to come with the Galaxy S26 through One UI 8.5.

Basically, it lets you enter the global search with a simple tap. You can perform similar tasks through the app drawer, but that requires you to swipe at least two times on the screen. This option is off by default, and users need to enter the home screen settings to enable it.

Finder allows you to search apps, suggested content, app options, web search, and hidden apps. It employs NPU to compound the search results. So, flagship phones are the ones to get it.

What interests me the most is that Samsung had enough time to bundle Finder with One UI 8.5 for the S25 series. However, that didn’t happen, and now, it could happen with One UI 9.0. Does this require a platform upgrade to trigger a search? Absolutely not.

The Finder may finally land on the Galaxy S25 series and other devices with One UI 9.0, but a rollout date remains unknown.

This past week, Samsung released One UI 9.0 beta 4 for the Galaxy S26 series, but it didn’t bring new features. Samsung started testing the software in May this year, and the program is yet to see a constructive change to call it a major update.

This perspective picks up more confidence when we see these releases up close. What we found is that Samsung added a new music player, a couple of settings changes, and a few UI element changes in the control panel. That’s it.

The second and third beta mentioned a bunch of bug fixes and improvements. These are necessary, but the program appears overcooked by now. Furthermore, the testing is also limited to the Galaxy S26 series, which should have been expanded to other models such as the Galaxy S25 series.

Now we do have to mention that the company keeps on testing this new firmware for previous generations, and it has already covered A-series and other devices in the internal test pool.

Next week, Samsung will unveil Galaxy Z Fold 8 devices, becoming the first to feature One UI 9.0. The Korean tech company will claim that they’ve become the first to release Android 17 on new devices. So, I believe that this could be the most suitable reason for not revealing any new addition for other devices.

As a matter of fact, we may have to wait for the One UI 9.0 beta 5 a bit little longer than the beta 4, as per the tradition followed by the company during the launch month.

So, chances are pretty high that the One UI 9.0 beta 5 may get a few new features because the beta 4 brought bug fixes.