Earlier this week, Samsung started internally testing its first builds of One UI 8.5, the software program that may first ship on subsequent 12 months’s Galaxy S26 trio earlier than finally increasing to older smartphones. A brand new leak is now giving us our first have a look at what’s subsequent for Samsung’s visible design language, and — shock — it’s wanting just a bit bit like Apple’s Liquid Glass.
As reported by SammyGuru, one developer managed to acquire and port that inner One UI 8.5 construct to a Galaxy S21+ for an early preview. We’re fairly restricted by what’s proven right here — even with 4 pictures to work off of, each picture is capturing the settings menu — but it surely does give us some perception into the place Samsung could be heading with its subsequent launch. Regardless of being the corporate’s second swing at an Android 16 construct after this 12 months’s One UI 8 replace, there are a handful of visible adjustments scattered all through the improve.
The AI-powered search bar in settings now floats above the menu system, whereas a persistent search bar additionally sticks round on the principle web page on the backside of the display. Because of this, the highest tab — the place the search icon and the “Settings” label as soon as existed — have been eliminated, with the menu overflowing and fading out alongside the highest and backside of the web page. Inside menus, the again button now floats inside its personal area within the top-left nook, relatively than being constructed into the banner.
Once more, these are early, minor adjustments, but it surely’s unimaginable to not discover some extent of Apple inspiration. Twitter person DalgleishGX drew a very tight circle round it, mentioning that the settings menu in iOS 26 makes use of very comparable floating search bar and again buttons. Samsung’s implementation is lacking the reflective, watercolor-like impact of Liquid Glass, but it surely’s robust to not see the similarities, even inside these comparatively minor adjustments.
It’s just a little irritating to see Samsung giving into a few of its worst impulses in terms of the general look of One UI, but it surely’s early days for this software program. With Materials 3 Expressive additionally finalized, these comparatively small Apple-esque components may finally morph into one thing just a little bit nearer to Google’s most well-liked look on Android. With One UI 8.5 all however sure to reach with the Galaxy S26 subsequent 12 months, solely time will inform.
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