What you need to know
- Following the S24 series launch, Samsung announced several One UI 6.1 features on its latest phone line will grace past-gen devices.
- A few features include "colorization" for black and white photos, an improved Single Take mode, and a new Motion Photo frame selector.
- Rumors recently suggest Samsung has already started testing One UI 6.1 on older devices and its "significance" could cause delays.
As the Galaxy S24 series launches with One UI 6.1 in tow, it looks like several past-gen devices are also preparing to pick up a few goodies.
Samsung announced older Galaxy phones will soon utilize an improved Single Take mode, courtesy of One UI 6.1 (via Gizchina). The S24 series' selection of four different zooms: 10x, 5x, 3x, 1x (alongside ultrawide) is on the way for the Galaxy S23 series, S22, Flip 4 and up, Fold 4 and up, and the Tab S9 devices.
Single Take mode also features better "pet recognition" for all of your fur babies.
Joining this improved mode on the previously named devices will result in better long-exposure shots. The improvements involve adding an edit function for long-exposure photos. Editing is accessible for the photo in the Gallery app and will only work if "Motion Photo" was active when the shot was taken.
Next, Samsung states it will add HDR support for users viewing videos on social media apps. This should arrive on the Flip 5, Fold 5, and Galaxy S23 series. Additionally, unspecified devices running One UI 6.1 will be able to surf through Motion Photo captures and pick out a specific frame they like. Doing so will turn the frame into a 12MP image.
Video editing on Galaxy devices with the Studio app will arrive in the One UI 6.1 update. It's worth mentioning that users looking to spruce up their videos through the app can begin on their Galaxy device and then continue on another connected tablet or PC. Moreover, a "colorization" feature is set to arrive on older devices when looking at black and white photographs.
On the S24 series, this feature lets users add "estimated colors" to such pictures. Unfortunately, much like the video editing feature, Samsung has not stated what devices will receive the colorization function, either.
Samsung's One UI 6 (Android 14) update from October 2023 brought in several camera enhancements, with a few backed by AI. The update involved the Enhance-X app, providing users with easy optimization options and photo and video editing with a single tap. The feature also taps AI software to help those looking starward at the constellations.
We don't have to wait much longer for older Galaxy devices to pick up One UI 6.1 as it was reported that Samsung started testing them recently. The Korean OEM has supposedly started testing on the Fold 5, Flip 5, Galaxy S21, S22, and more. The possibility of delay was theorized as update 6.1 is quite "significant" as it brings more AI software into the fold.
Several more Pixel 8-inspired features for One UI 6.1 were also rumored. However, it's unclear if these will land on previous devices as the S24 series launched with them. Rumors suggest that older Galaxy devices may see the update within Q1 2024.
