Firmware News: Android 12 Based One UI 4.0 Beta Out for Galaxy S21, OnePlus 9 Series to Introduce Oppo Based Color OS 12, and More.

After a series of teasers and rumors dropping here and there, Samsung is finally ready with the One UI 4.0 beta program. With that being said, we're getting even closer to the much-awaited Android 12. There have been talks circulating about Google planning to roll out the newest version of Android for the Pixels; Samsung, on the other hand, sneaks in. Want to learn more? Well then, follow along as we unfold the blockbusters from the OEM industry that has been creating significant noise over the week.

Devices That Are Lined Up for Today

Samsung

Samsung Tab S7 Series, Galaxy F41, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Buds 2

OnePlus

OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro (Global and chinese version)

Huawei

Watch 3

Samsung

Samsung Tab S7 Series Gets New One UI 3.1 Features

Although a number of devices have already received the One UI 3.1 update, many features were exclusive for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 owners. The good news is, Samsung is rolling out an update that will introduce some of the features to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 duo and the recently launched Tab S7 FE devices.

Bearing version numbers T87xXXU2BUC6 and T73xXXU1AUH6, respectively, for the Tab S7/S7+ and Tab S7 FE devices, the firmware offers access to the brand new lab features. The list includes a multi-window setup for the apps that don't natively support it alongside a more flexible taskbar that can enhance the overall workflow.

Are you still waiting for the update to hit up? Why not head over to the "Settings" of your device and look for the new firmware manually under the "Software Update" section.

September 2021 Security Patch is Out for Samsung Galaxy F41

As we head towards the third week of September, the security patch for a number of devices is lined up to get updated to the latest September 2021 version. The scene that initiated in August has reached the Galaxy F41 devices in India recently.

The update comes with version number F415FXXU1BUH7 and features the security patch as the prime highlight alongside regular bug fixes and stability improvements. As per Samsung, the latest security patch can fix more than 50 vulnerabilities that might hamper security and privacy.

For all the Samsung Galaxy F41 users in India, the update is supposed to reach you by now. If not, check it once manually navigating to the Software Update section.

Samsung Galaxy S21 is Ready for the One UI 4.0 Beta

The scene with Android 12 is finally getting some light, and Samsung is always up to grab the spot. Just a few days back, the company announced the release of the One UI 4.0 beta program based on Android 12 for the Galaxy S21 devices in Korea. Sooner that evening, the USA and Germany got added to the list.

Featuring a refreshed UI and a long list of improved elements, the One UI 4.0 is all about refining user experience. A detailed look at the changelog will make you understand what you can expect from the new firmware:

Warning: It's pretty long but worth your time if you're really into One UI 4.0

Home screen

• The widgets of the Home Screen have been redesigned to give you more information at a glance while also making your Home screen more stylish and attractive. It'll provide recommendations for widgets, making them useful for you.

Lock screen

• Now, you can change the audio output to a different device, such as a speaker or headphone, right from the Lock screen. You'll have customized controls depending on the type of music app you're using.
• You have an entirely new Voice Recorder widget for the Lock screen, letting you record voice memos without even unlocking the phone.
• A monthly calendar also appears on the Calendar widget that helps you to keep track of all your events from the Lock screen itself.

Always On Display

• You have the option to set the Always On Display turn on whenever you receive a notification.
• New animated stickers are available.

Quick panel

• Manage your notifications more comfortably with a unique enhanced layout, an integrated alert section, and silent notifications feature.
• The brightness bar appearing in the quick panel is more extensive, so it's convenient to adjust and see.

Dark mode

• With automatically darkened wallpapers, icons, and illustrations, you have got a more consistent look that ultimately provides more comfort to the eyes.

Charging Effects

• New visual effects appear whenever you put your phone on charging, helping you to check the speed of charging.

Samsung Keyboard

• With the new update, you get emojis, stickers, and GIFs directly from the keyboard with just a single button. Self-expression is a tap away from you.
• Want to express something new? Combine two emojis and then add an animation. Thus, you can really get your feelings across.
• You can download new animated stickers.
• Keep your spelling and grammar on point with the new Writing assistant, powered by Grammarly (English only).
• Whenever you enter the Tips app, Preview videos now appear on the screen that helps you to learn everything related to your Galaxy.

Sharing

• With the new update, you can customize the list of apps that appear on the share panel to reduce clutter. Just scroll left and right across the lists of apps and people for easier and quicker access.
• If you try to share pictures that have problems like poor focus or framing, you'll get suggestions for fixing so your pictures always look their best.

Camera

• Enjoy a more straightforward, clearer layout with a preview that shows only the necessary information. If you're scanning a document or there's low light, the scene optimizer button will only appear in Photo mode. Additionally, the settings for Portrait and Night modes are more intuitive.
• Lens and zoom: Have a look at the zoom level on the lens icons for easier zooming, even in support of one lens mode.
• Video that never misses a moment: With this feature, recording starts the moment you tap the Record button, as opposed to when you release it. In Photo mode, to begin recording a video, touch and hold the Shutter button. To continue recording, just drag your finger to the Lock icon. You now don't need to hold down the button.
• Single take: Adding more time while recording in Single Take so that you don't miss out on any important moment. The content selection menu has been improved now to help you easily choose the perfect shots after you finish recording.
• Pro mode: Settings have been restructured for a cleaner look. If you turn on the gridlines, the horizontal level indicators will help you to line up the perfect shot.
• Enhanced scan features: After done with scanning a document, you can zoom in for refined editing. When you scan a Quick Respond (QR) code, you can pick from several options depending on the type of QR code.

Gallery

• Now stories show a video preview on the cover and a highlight video inside. You can even see the location of each picture in a story on a map.
• A whole range of new options available for sorting albums containing lots of photos.
• When you open albums, you can see album covers at the top of the screen.
• The improved search suggestions help you to find pictures and videos easily. You're also suggested with recent searches.
• You can reverse the remastered pictures to their original versions even after they're saved.
• Editing the date, time, and location of the taken pictures
• and videos are also possible.

Photo and video editor

• One UI 4 enables you to add fun emojis and stickers to your pictures and videos.
• You can create video collages by combining multiple images and videos from your Gallery. With the brand new Light balance option, you can edit the tone of
• pictures with ease.
• For providing you with more control, the Highlight reel editor has been enhanced.
• You can reverse the remastered videos to their original versions even after they're saved.
• The new update lets you cut out a face, building, pet, or any other object from one photo and paste it onto a different new one.

AR Emoji

• AR Emojis are so in trend, you can use an AR emoji as your profile picture in Contacts and Samsung accounts. You can choose from over ten expressions or create your own expressions.
• The new update added AR emoji stickers that show only your face. You can have fun by decorating your photos and sharing them with your contacts.
• Making cool dance videos with your AR emojis is also possible. You can choose templates from 10 different categories, that includes, #Fun, #Cute, and #Party.
• Use your own creativity to create unique clothes for your AR emojis.

Multitasking

• You can pin the window options menu to the top of a pop-up window to make it easier to access.
• Resizing picture-in-picture windows is made easy with pinch zoom.
• Want to keep your current app in view while using edge panels? The new One UI 4 has it all. To help you see more at once, blurring has been removed.

Settings

• With new Safety and an emergency menu, you can manage your emergency contacts and safety information all in one place.
• The search features have been improved to help you find the settings when you need them. You'll even get suggestions for related features depending on your search.

Digital Wellbeing

• Keeping eyes on the road is now a seamless process with the newly introduced Driving monitor. You'll also have a report on how much you used your phone and which apps you used.

Clock

• The dual clock widget now shows different base colors for each city depending on whether it's day or night.

Calendar

• The Calendar layout lets you add events instantly. You can also find events more efficiently with enhanced search features.
• The new Home screen widget also shows your monthly calendar alongside today's events.
• You can create shared calendars and invite other Galaxy users to join in.

Messages

• With the new feature, the photos, videos, weblinks, and other content will appear in search results in the Messages app.

My Files

• Search features have been enhanced. You can still find the files you're searching for, even if there's a typo.
• The Recent files area has been enlarged to help you find files you've used recently more easily.

Samsung Internet

• Now, you have more search suggestions when you enter text in the address bar. Results will appear with an all-new design.
• With the help of the new search widget, you can find what you're looking for right from the Home screen.
• The new update enables Samsung Internet to automatically start in Secret mode if you were using Secret mode during your last browsing session to protect your privacy.

Device Care

• The main screen displays battery and security issues, making it easier to solve problems quickly.
• The overall status of your phone is shown as an emoji, helping you check the status at a glance.
• Now, you can connect to Samsung Members diagnostics from Device Care. If something seems wrong with your phone, you can try the diagnostic tests to find out the problem and get suggestions for solving the same.

Samsung Health

• With a new tab layout at the bottom of the screen, you'll have access to the features you need more quickly. The brand new My page tab shows your profile, weekly summary, badges, and personal bests.
• Now, for your gender selection, you can choose "Other" or "Prefer not to say."
• It's now more accessible to invite your friends and family to team challenges by sending a link. Additional snacks have also been added to the food tracker.

Bixby Routines

• There are more conditions available for your routines. You can start a routine during a phone call or when a specific notification arrives.
• Make more out of your routines. Now, you can turn on Enhanced processing with a routine. You'll also have more options for connecting and disconnecting Bluetooth devices.
• Reorder actions by touching and holding activities on the edit page. With advanced options, you can wait before action starts, confirm actions, and more.
• A few restrictions for some combinations of conditions and actions have also been removed so that you can do more with your routines.
• The new update lets you create custom icons for your routines using the Camera or an image from Gallery.

Accessibility

• You can perform actions more quickly by moving your mouse pointer to one of the four corners of the screen.
• Adjusting contrast and size at the same time is now possible with custom Display mode (High contrast or Large display).
• You can access accessibility features more quickly with a floating button that is always available.
• The new update provides more visibility options to meet your needs. Reduction of transparency, blur, and making the screen extra dim is now possible. You can set different colors for each app's notifications so you can quickly determine where notifications are coming from.
• In the updated version, the Magnifier window has been merged with the new Magnification menu to give you more options and more control for magnifying content on the screen.

Privacy

• Watch out which apps are accessing sensitive permissions such as Location, Camera, or Microphone-in Permission usage history. You have the option to deny permissions for any apps you don't feel comfortable with.
• Whenever any app is using the Camera or microphone, a green dot will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, giving you the right to see if an app is recording you without your consent. You can quickly block all apps from using the microphone or Camera using quick panel controls temporarily. You can have more control over apps that want to access your location now. For apps, such as weather apps, that only need your general area, you can allow access to your approximate location so that they can't determine your exact location.
• Sometimes, you might need to copy sensitive information, like passwords or credit card numbers, but you don't want it to fall into criminal hands. You can choose to get a notification any time an app accesses content copied to the clipboard in another app.

There are a few apps that will need to be updated separately after the One UI 4 upgrade.

As per sources, it is expected that the stable version for Galaxy S21 series will be out by the end of 2021

Carrier Locked Galaxy Z Fold 2 Receives September 2021 Security Patch

The carrier-locked Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is one of the other devices to receive the September 2021 security patch this week. As of now, the update is limited to the smartphones in the US that are on T-mobile and Sprint networks. Talking about the firmware, the version number tags up as F916USQS2EUH7.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Gets Even Better

Samsung has been really busy. Although a usual scenario, the exhibition is a bit more extended this time around. Continuing our firmware updates for this week, we've got one for the Galaxy Buds 2 users.

With version number R177XXU0AUI2, the new firmware brings in a set of enhanced features that will help users have a better experience. One of the prime things to mention is the ability to enable the Ambient Mode while on calls. Also, the same can be activated as Ambient Sound Customization. Apart from that, the new firmware makes sure the buds have improved stability moving forward.

OnePlus

Chinese Version of OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro Gets Android 12 Based ColorOS 12

If you don't already know, OnePlus runs HydrogenOS for its Chinese devices. However, recently they've announced to replace it with Oppo's UI known as the ColorOS. The first set of devices to receive will be the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro.

Weighing 4.16GB, the update was initially listed to feature in October. Moreover, other OnePlus devices that range from the OnePlus 7 and beyond are expected to see their OS versions substituted sometime in the first half of 2022.

Additional News:

• OnePlus brings a brand new Hasselblad XPan Mode to enhance the camera experience in the OnePlus 9.

Huawei

Watch 3 Gets a Special Update

Huawei rolls out the latest firmware for its smartwatch named Watch 3. The new firmware ramps up to HarmonyOS 2.0.0.188 weighs somewhere around 239MB. Currently, the update is live for Chinese versions, with expectations for a global release soon

Once updated, users will be able to reply from the watch itself. Alongside, the raise-to-wake functionality has been improved. Moreover, the system now supports a broader variety of music formats that you can play from the local storage.

The update further sees an exciting feature called hand-washing detection. This basically revolves around the most promising and practical approach to washing your hands. Genuinely something to deal with the present situation we're all in.

A Quick Round Up:

• Samsung Tab S7 Series Gets New One UI 3.1 Features
• September 2021 Security Patch is Out for Samsung Galaxy F41
• Samsung Galaxy S21 is Ready for the One UI 4.0 Beta
• Carrier Locked Galaxy Z Fold 2 Receives September 2021 Security Patch
• The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Gets Even Better
• Chinese Version of OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro Gets Android 12 Based ColorOS 12
• OnePlus brings a brand new Hasselblad XPan Mode to enhance the camera experience in the OnePlus 9.
• Watch 3 Gets a Special Update.

Wrapping Up

And we're done walking you through the latest firmware updates. While Samsung has featured most of the portion, that doesn't mean the upcoming weeks will surpass in a similar manner, or will it? Make sure you don't miss out on any of the weekly updates. Bookmarking us will always help in this regard.