Until right now, Samsung’s latest software experience, One UI 8.5, has been strictly locked to its absolute newest hardware. If you wanted to test drive the interface, you had to have a flagship Galaxy S26 series device in your pocket, or one of the newly launched Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 models. However, that tight exclusivity window is officially closing. Samsung has just announced a significant expansion of its beta testing program, bringing the One UI 8.5 update, alongside the genuinely game-changing ‘QuickShare to iPhone’ feature, to a much broader roster of existing Galaxy smartphones.
If you held off on upgrading your phone this year, this rollout is incredibly good news. The expanded beta program is now officially available for the entire Galaxy S23 lineup, which notably includes the fan-favourite Galaxy S23 FE. Samsung is also making sure its foldable users are not left waiting, bringing the beta directly to the Galaxy Z Fold5 and the Galaxy Z Flip5. What makes this rollout particularly interesting is the inclusion of the Galaxy A36 5G. Pushing a major beta update to an older mid-range device proves that Samsung is serious about keeping its more accessible phones practically relevant for much longer.
While new software always brings a fresh coat of paint and underlying performance bumps, the absolute star of this specific update is the enhanced connectivity. By expanding this beta, Samsung is officially rolling out ‘QuickShare to iPhone’ capabilities to all of these newly supported devices. Historically, sending an uncompressed video or a massive batch of high-resolution photos from a Galaxy device to an iOS user required clumsy workarounds, third-party apps, or dealing with compressed messaging services. Bringing this native, seamless cross-platform sharing to older hardware fundamentally removes a massive daily friction point for anyone operating in a mixed-device household or workplace.
As with any early software release, there are a few geographical catches to be aware of. This is a phased beta rollout, meaning it is not immediately available globally. At the moment, the program is strictly limited to users residing in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and South Korea. If you are located in one of those approved regions and want to test the new QuickShare capabilities before the final polished release, you can register your device right now using the Samsung Members application. For everyone else, the wait should not be too long, as the company has explicitly stated that the beta will continue expanding to even more Galaxy hardware later this month.
