Android 16 release schedule comes into focus — and that could mean an earlier update for Samsung phones

We already knew that Google was pushing the release schedule for Android 16 compared to previous versions of the phone software. This week, we got a sense of how soon Android 16 could be ready — and the ripple effect that might have on software based on the new version of Android such as Samsung’s One UI 8 update.

Updated Android 16 timing came courtesy of The Android Show, an online event Google hosted yesterday (May 13) to focus on changes coming to its phone software. During that event, Android boss Sameer Samat said that "Samsung and many other" devices will get Android 16 "this summer."

Based on some extrapolating from Android Police, that could translate to a One UI 8 release between late June and late September.

That would be an improvement over the One UI 7 rollout, which just began last month — more than six months after Android 15 became publicly available. Android 16’s expedited release date could mean history won’t repeat itself with the next version of One UI.

If that summer launch window is correct, that could put One UI 8 on track to debut with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7. Those two upcoming foldable phones are rumored to be coming out during a Galaxy Unpacked event in July.

They won’t be the first devices running a version of Android 16. Google reserves that distinction for its own Pixel devices. And according to Samat, that’s happening later this year. Most rumors tip Android 16 to appear in June, which would allow for that summer release of One UI 8.

Unlike One UI 7, One UI 8 shouldn't be much of an overhaul on Samsung's part, where most of the big updates will come from Google's Material 3 Expressive overhaul of Android. Instead, One UI 8 should be more of a refinement of the new features introduced in One UI 7 including the Now Bar and Brief, as well as the notifications.

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