Key Highlights
- It’s obviously Android, but it has also long looked and felt distinctly “Samsung,” even as other Android skins borrowed ideas from all over the place.
- With the One UI 8.5 beta now in the wild, though, that identity is starting to feel like it’s up for debate. In a recent opinion piece, my colleague Joe Maring said One UI 8.5 might be the update where Samsung finally went a step too far.
- He highlighted changes like the new Quick Settings layout and refreshed Samsung apps, which can be tweaked to look a lot like iOS 26’s Control Center and navigation bars.
- The update adds useful customization and isn’t short on polish, but Joe’s bigger point was questioning the point at which refinement starts to feel more like imitation.
- That question is what led us to ask our readers how they feel about One UI 8.5’s iOS-like changes. You told us your views via both a poll in Joe’s article and the comments section.
