Shortly after a Canadian carrier accidentally revealed that the stable One UI 4 update is right around the corner, Samsung is already making it official. The company has just shared that its take on Android 12, One UI 4, is now available for all phones part of the Galaxy S21 series (Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra). The new software brings a whole slew of improvements to Samsung's flagships, including the company's interpretation of Material You, improved privacy controls and indicators, and first-party app updates across the board.

In contrast to Google's version of Android 12, Samsung's One UI 4 doesn't look too different from previous versions, which is great when it comes to consistency — regular folks should be able to continue using their phones without upending their workflows. That said, One UI 4 does bring Material You theming to the handsets, which means that system UI elements as well as Samsung and Google apps will use a color palette based on your phone's wallpaper. It's recognizably Android 12, but unique enough to have its own spin. Like on Pixel phones, there is a standard color palette extracted from your wallpaper, but you can also choose from up to four other automatic color schemes. Samsung additionally supports themed icons, but as of the latest beta, this only works for first-party apps — not even Google apps seem to be included in the feature for now.

Samsung has taken a few more cues from Google. One UI 4 packs redesigned widgets and new features for the Samsung keyboard, which now lets you create so-called expressive emoji. It's similar to Gboard's emoji kitchen, which lets you create mashups of different emoji to convey even more emotions and reactions through text, but Samsung leans much more heavily into animations, putting two emoji next to each other rather than morphing them into one new piece

One UI 4 expressive emoji anim

In other smaller news, One UI has further brought smart suggestions to photo sharing, which gives you intelligent image cropping suggestions when you want to send pictures to others. It's now also finally possible to select your wallpaper straight from Google Photos, which should make it easier to pick one that gives you the perfect Material You colors.

One UI 4 Privacy

There's also a new Privacy Dashboard, which is part of Android 12 itself. It shows you which apps have accessed which of your permissions over the last 24 hours, focusing on location, microphone, and camera access. You can disable permissions from right there, and Samsung has added a few more extra features to it.

While Samsung has done a lot to speed up software updates for its phones, we didn't expect the company to launch a stable release just a few weeks after Google pushed the updates to its Pixel phones. It's great to see the company stepping up the game, and it will hopefully set an example for other manufacturers in the future. Many phones running Android 11 have yet to receive an Android 12 beta program in the first place.

UPDATE: 2021/11/18 09:50 EST BY MANUEL VONAU

One UI 4 rollout schedule

Samsung has shared in the Samsung Members app that following the S21 series, One UI 4 will also make its way to previous Galaxy S and Note phones, as well as the A series, foldables, and tablets, many of which already have beta programs. Specifically, the following devices are eligible for the update, in chronological order:

  • November 2021
    • Galaxy S21 series
  • December 2021
    • Galaxy Z Flip3
    • Galaxy Z Fold3
  • January 2022
    • Galaxy S20 series
    • Galaxy Note20 series
    • Galaxy Note10 series
    • Galaxy Z Fold2
    • Galaxy Fold
    • Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Z Flip 5G
  • January 2022
    • Galaxy S20 5G
    • Galaxy S10 series
    • Galaxy A52 5G
    • Galaxy Tab S7, S7+, S7+ 5G
  • March 2022
    • Galaxy Tab S7 FE
  • April 2022
    • Galaxy A51, A51 5G, A71 5G
    • Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G
    • Galaxy Tab S6 Lite
  • May 2022
    • Galaxy A42 5G, A32 5G
    • Galaxy Tab S6
    • Galaxy Tab Active3
    • Galaxy Tab A7 (2020)
  • June 2022
    • Galaxy Tab A7 Lite
    • Galaxy XCover Pro
  • July 2022
    • Galaxy A21, A12
  • August 2022
    • Galaxy A02s, A01, A11

As always, availability may vary by region, so depending in which country you live, it might take a little longer for One UI 4 to reach you.