Samsung opens One UI 4 beta based on Android 12

As we inch closer to the supposed October 4 stable release of Google’s Android 12, smartphone OEMs are slowly pushing their first public betas to users. Samsung has officially begun seeding its One UI 4 based on Android 12 and it is now available to Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra owners.

One UI 4 homescreen and new widgets (image: Samsung)

Registration opens today, September 14 and those interested in trying out the beta will need to register via their Samsung Members account and the open slots will be limited. The beta program will be available in the following countries: South Korea, the US, the UK, China, Germany and Poland.

The big changes with One UI 4 start with the plethora of customization options including plenty of new themes, configuration options for the home screen, icons, notifications as well as new wallpapers. There are several new resizable widgets, new AR emojis and stickers.

One UI 4 AR Emoji Studio (image: Samsung)

Privacy is another area of improvement for One UI 4 with new indicators in the notification bar showing you if an app is using your camera and/or microphone. There are toggles for completely turning off the two sensors.

One UI 4 privacy options (image: Samsung)

One UI 4 also brings a permission history tab that keeps track of users' selections for up to a week. There is also the option to check data usage separately for permissions and apps.