This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: numerous Samsung devices get One UI 3.0/3.1, OnePlus Nord gets upgraded to a stable version of Android 11, and more.
What's New This Week?
OnePlus
- OnePlus Nord gets stable OxygenOS 11 while the OnePlus 7 and 7T get Open Beta 3
- Android 12 Developer Preview 1.1 is already here
Samsung
- Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy Buds Live are now receiving features from the Galaxy Buds Pro
- One UI 3.1 is now here for the Galaxy A71 4G
- Galaxy Tab S6 Lite gets the latest version of Android
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite is now receiving One UI 3.1 as well
- Galaxy A50s gets Single Take and other camera features
- Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active are now receiving Tizen 5.5 with Watch 3 features onboard
OnePlus
OnePlus Nord, OnePlus 7, and OnePlus 7T
A stable version of Android 11 is finally here for the OnePlus Nord along with everything that's included in it. We are talking a UI overhaul, universal Dark Mode, and more.
In case you can't read through the image, the changelog is as follows:
- System
- Update to Android 11 version
- The brand new UI design brings you a more comfortable experience with various optimizations of details
- Optimized the stability of some third-party apps and improved experience
- Ambient Display
- Newly added Insight clock style, a joint creation with Parsons School of Design. It will change according to the phone usage data (Go to: Settings – Customization – Clock on ambient display)
- Newly added the Canvas always-on display, which can extract the subject's outline from any photo and display it on your lock screen (Go to: Settings – Customization – Wallpaper – Canvas – Choose photo preview and it can be generated automatically)
- Dark Mode
- Added the shortcut key for Dark Mode, pull down the quick setting to enable.
- Now supporting automatically turn on feature & customize time range. (Go to: Settings – Display – Dark Mode – Turn on automatically – Automatically enable from sunset to sunrise / Custom time range)
- Shelf
- Brand new shelf UI
- Newly added a weather widget with smarter animation effect
- Gallery
- Newly added the Story feature, which can automatically create the weekly stories by using your local photos and videos
- Optimized the loading speed to improve the image preview experience
But there are a few more additions under the hood as well.
In other news, both the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro are getting OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 3. Those of you who are enrolled in the beta should get them any time soon. However, it's worth keeping in mind that these are incremental updates.
Android 12
Great news for, well, everyone. But especially for developers. A new, minor version of Android 12 is here and it includes quite a lot of bug fixes.
To be more specific, according to our sources, the changelog of Android 12, Developer Preview, 1.1 is as follows:
- Fixed an issue where on some devices, the device intermittently disconnected from Wi-Fi even when the Wi-Fi signal was strong.
- Fixed an issue where on some devices, the device displayed a “System UI keeps stopping” message if the user tried to take a screenshot by pressing Power + Volume Down from the Lock screen.
- Fixed an issue with partial wake locks that could cause excessive battery drain.
- Fixed an issue where a device’s fingerprint reader could become unresponsive when the device was suspended, requiring the user to unlock their device using another method.
- Fixed an issue where the Settings app could crash if the user tried to access app notification settings.
- Fixed an issue where the system UI could freeze after the user updated the device.
- Fixed an issue where the CellBroadcastReceiver app could not obtain the
android.permission.BROADCAST_CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGSpermission, causing emergency alerts to crash. - Fixed an issue that could cause some devices to reboot intermittently.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some devices to reboot after the user unlocked the device using their PIN.
This update weighs just 5 megabytes and is already available for all the supported Pixel devices, starting from the Google Pixel 3 and going all the way up to the Pixel 5.
Samsung
Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy Buds Live
A new update is here for both the Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy Buds Live – and it includes a few features from the Galaxy Buds Pro.
One weights 1.41 megabytes and the other 2.20. So, we're talking about fairly small updates in both cases.
To be more specific, the Galaxy Buds+ update's changelog mentions Auto-Switching, the Buds control menu under Bluetooth, along with the usual system stability and reliability improvements.
And the same applies to the Buds Live – except you also get Hearing Aid.
The updates are already available in the U.S and we assume that it won't be too long before they become globally available. But it's worth keeping in mind that even if you live in the U.S, this is an incremental update. So, it may take some time before all of you get it.
In case you are not familiar with those features, Hearing Enhancement allows you to boost the volume levels on any of the earbuds independently, while Auto Switching allows you to seamlessly switch from a compatible Samsung device to another.
For example, if you are listening to music through a Samsung device, and a call comes on another paired one, the buds will automatically switch to the one that's taking the call.
To the best of our knowledge, though, only devices that are running One UI 3.1 are compatible with this feature. And there are not too many of them right now. But, we expect that it won't be too long before this changes.
Galaxy A71 4G
Great news for Samsung Galaxy A71 owners. One UI 3.1 with Android 11 should be heading your way soon now.
And since you are making the jump from One UI 2.5 directly to 3.1, you can expect to see some massive changes coming your way. That's why you'll have to download 2.7 gigabytes of data, so, don't forget to keep your Wi-Fi enabled.
There are lots of new features, visual overhauls, and under the hood improvements as well. We are talking about things such as Nearby Share, Samsung Free, double-tap to sleep, a re-designed volume bar and notification bubbles, and more.
That aside, the update also includes February's security patch.
While it's currently available in Poland, we expect that it won't be too long before it's soon available in more regions as well. But as per usual, don't forget that these are incremental updates. So, even if you live in a supported region, it may take a while before everyone gets the notification.
Galaxy Tab S6
Those of you who are using a Galaxy Tab S6 will be delighted to know that your tablet is now receiving the latest version of Android. We still don't know if it's One UI 3.0 or 3.1, but no matter what it may be, it certainly is still a huge leap.
After all, you are getting a few new features, a UI overhaul, under-the-hood improvements, and a newer security patch as well. Surprisingly enough, not only you are getting the latest version of Android, but also the latest Android security patch 5 days into the month.
The update is currently available in France but we expect that it won't be too long before it becomes globally available. But even when it is available, do not forget that such updates are pretty much always incremental – which means some people are gonna have to wait for their turn.
Galaxy Note 10 Lite
More and more Samsung devices are getting either the latest version of either One UI or One UI 3.0. And now the Galaxy Note 10 Lite can also be included on that list with One UI 3.1.
In case you haven't read about it yet, One UI 3.1 brings quite a lot of changes. This includes a visual overhaul, many new system-wide and camera features, under-the-hood improvements, and, in this case, March's security patch as well.
This update is already available in France and we assume that it won't be long before other regions start receiving it as well. Just don't forget that as per usual, this is an incremental rollout – which means that some people are gonna be stuck waiting for their turn – even if the update is available in their region.
Galaxy A50s
A new update is here for the Galaxy A50s and while it doesn't include One UI 3.0 or 3.1, it does bring a few new features for the camera and January's security patch.
To be more specific, we are talking about Single Take, Night Hyperlapse, and My Filters.
In case you are not familiar with those features, most of them were introduced with the Galaxy S20 series.
Single Take takes multiple multiple shots in the timespan of 10 seconds in various styles, angles, and formats, that are created automatically, and then you get to choose the best out of them.
Night Hyperlapse, on the other hand, is basically just Hyperlapse with the main difference that it works during the night as well. It's a great way to create artistic, long-exposure photos with the trailing lights that you often see in pro photography.
Last, but not least, "My Filters" is a feature that allows you to create new filters by imitating other pictures and then applying them to new ones that you take.
Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active
Tizen 5.5 is now ready for Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active units. And with it, you can expect to get support for AR Emoji and Bitmoji, voice guidance for workouts, continuous scrolling screenshots, images on notifications, along with the usual performance and stability improvements.
The update in question is currently only available in the U.S and South Korea. But chances are that it'll soon become available in numerous regions.
As per usual, we expect that this is in an incremental rollout. So, even when it becomes available in your region, you may have to wait a little more before getting your turn.