Samsung has released Android 15 in beta (One UI 7) in time for the Galaxy S25 launch, and users are finding similarities to Apple’s iOS 18.
Samsung will launch the Galaxy S25 series in mid-January, at which point the new flagship phones will become Samsung’s first Android 15 devices. The Galaxy S25 will launch running Android 15 with One UI 7 on top, after which Samsung will begin updating its other devices to Google’s latest operating system.
That’s hardly a surprise, considering Samsung has never been known for fast Android updates. Also, remember that Google’s Pixel 9 phones launched with Android 14 this year.
However, Samsung will update multiple devices to Android 15, as it has multi-year software guarantees in place. Android 15 is coming, and it’s only a matter of time. Until that happens, Galaxy phone users who want to participate in Samsung’s Android 15 beta test can experience One UI 7 right now.
The first beta is out, and — perhaps also unsurprisingly — Samsung’s One UI 7 looks a whole lot like Apple’s iOS 18.
After so many years of iPhone and Android software updates, we’re used to companies taking inspiration from the competition. Whether it’s Apple, Google, Samsung, or others, you’ll often see some features and designs transition from one platform to another. In this case, we’re looking at iOS design elements that Samsung seems to have borrowed for One UI 7.
Normally, I’d say there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, some handset makers from China put out shameless copies of iOS. Compared to those, One UI 7 is a small-time offender.
But I’m also old enough to remember a particular 132-page Samsung internal guide on how to copy the iPhone UI pixel by pixel. Those days are long behind us, and Samsung has evolved a lot since then. But One UI 7 looks much more like iOS 18 than what I would have expected.
