It’s no secret Samsung is working on One UI 8.5 ahead of the Galaxy S26 launch early next year. While we’re still pretty far out from any sort of public beta, the company’s internal build continues to leak new features online, including some long-awaited changes to the lock screen.
As spotted by SammyGuru, One UI 8.5 is making a couple of tweaks to its lock screen, one of which should improve the readability of your incoming notifications. In Samsung’s next update, your list of unread notifications should utilize a new blur effect, doing a better job to display text on a busy wallpaper. As it stands, lock screen notifications on One UI 8 are, in my view, relatively hard to read without a fairly basic — or pre-blurred — wallpaper choice. This should be a massive improvement, though it’s unclear if this is the new default for everyone, or if you’ll be able to select from a list of notification styles.
One UI 8.5 also appears to introduce a handful of new clock styles. Samsung fans, rest easy — none of the ones in this leak appear to replicate the ultra-tall look seen in iOS 26, with the company sticking to its usual aesthetic instead. Both of the new options are fairly cartoonish in nature, utilizing curves and gradients to bring a bit of pizzazz to the lock screen. One of the two also includes a vertical orientation option.
We’ve seen a handful of One UI 8.5 changes already leak out, including some fresh AI features and some serious Liquid Glass vibes. I wouldn’t say any of those influences are seen in Samsung’s lock screen refresh, though with a few months to go before the Galaxy S26 and One UI 8.5’s official unveiling, there’s plenty of time for that to change.
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