Android 13 beta with One UI 5.0 reportedly coming soon
As you may probably know, Google has not yet finalized Android 13 and is still releasing betas to Pixel phones. Now, some new evidence shows that the Android 13 beta may be coming soon to Samsung‘s reigning flagship phones from the Galaxy S22 series. Right now, we are at the third beta for Android 13, which brought tweaks and fixes as the new operating system update is moving towards stability. And from what it seems, Android 13 may be released to the public ahead of schedule this year, reportedly sometime in August or September.
TizenHelp managed to unearth some exciting info for Galaxy S22 owners who are eager to test the new OS update. It seems the South Korean company is ready to start its tests of Android 13 on its flagship devices.
We are talking about firmware version S906NKSU2ZVF6 (as you can see on the screenshot below) which has appeared in South Korea, and it is believed this is the first Android 13 beta for Galaxy S22. However, the update has not been rolled out to anyone yet, but this may start happening pretty soon.
As usual, the first lucky Samsung phones to get to test Android 13 will be the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Plus, and the vanilla Galaxy S22. Shortly after, it is believed the beta will be opened to Samsung’s foldable phones (the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3), with last year’s flagship Galaxy S21 phones to get it after that.
One UI 5.0 (or however the next Samsung skin on top of Android 13 will end up being officially named) is a mystery at the moment. Not much is known about it, apart from the possibility it will bring some improvements in animations and small tweaks. One UI 4.0 brought a more Material You-like look and feel to the phones that support it, but we are yet to hear what One UI 5.0 will bring.
Last year, Samsung released its Android 12 beta in September, but this year, things seem to be moving a little bit quicker. Rumors and reports point to a July release of Android 13 beta to Samsung phones. Here’s to quick update delivery from Samsung!
Android 13: what to expect
Last year, Android 12 was a major update bringing a new design language dubbed Material You with icons adapting their colors to your background, alongside other features. And, judging by history, this pretty much means Android 13 will be more of a quality-of-life update than a major thing. Google will most likely focus on improving what we got with Android 12 and refining the experience. For example, Android 13 will bring visual improvements to the dynamic theming with four pre-made color themes.
Another quite pleasing change is a redesigned wallpaper picker that will let you preview the available backgrounds straight from the home screen, by long-pressing an empty space.
Android 13 also brings a new photo picker, focused on improving privacy. Similarly to how this is done in iOS, the new photo picker will allow you to share certain photos with an app without giving it access to your entire photo library. Right now, the photo picker in Android asks for permission to read your whole photo library by default, but with Android 13, you will be getting a more privacy-centered option as well.
Android 13 is expected to come first to Pixel phones, probably some time in August or September, and then all respective manufacturers should be releasing their Android 13-based firmware as well. And, from the looks of it, Samsung may be leading the speedy update competition.
