Jenith
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We've been able to access newer One UI 9 builds and test them on our Galaxy S26 devices. Several new features are present in these builds.
Among these new One UI 9 features that we've discovered are widgets for Bixby, Samsung's smart assistant, that only recently received some upgrades with One UI 8.5.
These Bixby widgets in One UI 9 are quite basic in what they offer currently. They contain keyboard and voice/microphone icons, the intention being that with these widgets users can quickly interact with the assistant. There's a new 4×2 widget as well which adds an input bar for text-based queries and a microphone icon for voice queries.
After being in obscurity for some time, Bixby received a few meaningful upgrades with One UI 8.5. The upgrades included integration with Perplexity, enabling Bixby to hand off queries to the AI assistant for better responses.
The introduction of Bixby widgets among the new One UI 9 features shows that Samsung wants to bring its voice assistant front and center again, despite it being overshadowed by Gemini, which enjoys prominence in Samsung's Galaxy AI offerings.
Samsung continues to work on One UI 9 so it's entirely possible that further Bixby-related improvements may also be on the cards. The company is likely to release One UI 9 in the second half of this year alongside its new foldable phones.
https://www.imeisource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/One-UI-9-Bixby-widgets-1920x2080.jpg
One UI 9 adds home screen widgets for Bixby – Source: Abhijeet Mishra / imeisource
Among these new One UI 9 features that we've discovered are widgets for Bixby, Samsung's smart assistant, that only recently received some upgrades with One UI 8.5.
Bixby is gradually being brought back to center stage
These Bixby widgets in One UI 9 are quite basic in what they offer currently. They contain keyboard and voice/microphone icons, the intention being that with these widgets users can quickly interact with the assistant. There's a new 4×2 widget as well which adds an input bar for text-based queries and a microphone icon for voice queries.
After being in obscurity for some time, Bixby received a few meaningful upgrades with One UI 8.5. The upgrades included integration with Perplexity, enabling Bixby to hand off queries to the AI assistant for better responses.
The introduction of Bixby widgets among the new One UI 9 features shows that Samsung wants to bring its voice assistant front and center again, despite it being overshadowed by Gemini, which enjoys prominence in Samsung's Galaxy AI offerings.
Samsung continues to work on One UI 9 so it's entirely possible that further Bixby-related improvements may also be on the cards. The company is likely to release One UI 9 in the second half of this year alongside its new foldable phones.
https://www.imeisource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/One-UI-9-Bixby-widgets-1920x2080.jpg
One UI 9 adds home screen widgets for Bixby – Source: Abhijeet Mishra / imeisource