How to prepare your Samsung Galaxy for the One UI 9 update

Samsung’s One UI 9 update is now available on Galaxy phones, with a rollout that began on September 16 and has expanded to more and more devices. If you live in the right region and have the right device, you might already be able to download One UI 9 – and if not, it should be right around the corner anyway. However, before updating, you will need to make some preparations.

Much of what Android-17-based One UI 9 brings is based on new AI features, whether it’s the My Fancam feature’s intelligent tracking or Now Nudge’s timely mid-conversation suggestions (which can pull booking details or record location details while you’re texting). Additionally, there is also increased support for scam detection and AI-enhanced privacy alerts that detect possible security breaches in the background. If you can’t wait to get your hands on features like these, you need to get your phone ready.

To start, you want to make sure your phone is eligible for the update in the first place; If you own at least one S23 series phone, or a Z Flip or Z Fold no older than all 5 models, you’re good to go when the full One UI 9 update arrives. The full stable update has only just started rolling out to the S26 series and may take some time to reach the wider ecosystem. To check if the update is available, go Settings > Software Update > Check for updates (if your device has not already informed you of an available update). You can also start from Software update has Download and install to schedule the update to automatically download later, for example when your device is charging.

However, don’t jump straight to the update before taking some precautions. The update will take up around 4GB of space, so you’ll want to free up that much storage with some wiggle room to boot. Additionally, you should make sure your battery is charged before updating and, if you’re planning to update, that your phone has enough charge and Wi-Fi during the update. Also, if you’re worried that something might go wrong while updating, make sure your important files are backed up physically or on the Cloud.

This is not just the rollout of the stable version of One UI 9, but also other beta versions of the update for older devices. While Samsung’s One UI 9 beta rolled out to the latest Galaxy phones months ago, a second beta was just launched for the Galaxy A55 and A35 phones, as well as the S24 series. The update for the A-series pair begins rolling out in South Korea, while the beta 2 update for the S24 starts in India.

The A55’s update size is around 403.66MB, while A35 users are expected to free up around 500MB for its own second beta update. The S24 is currently seeing the largest new beta, coming in at 600.90 MB in size. You should take all of the other precautions above when downloading these less stable beta updates, but you’ll only be eligible for the first two if your device is enrolled in Samsung’s One UI 9 beta program.