Exclusive: Samsung One UI 8.5 Adds Ask Gemini and Ask Bixby Actions

Whew, what a day! While Samsung rolled out One UI 8 stable to the Galaxy S25 series this week, we’ve been hard at work bringing you an early look at One UI 8.5. We’ve already shown off the new Settings menu and the redesigned My Files and Phone app. Samsung is leaning heavily on Google’s Material 3 design (with a sprinkling of iOS 26) for its new menu and button layout. Up next, we’ve uncovered a few spicy new details regarding Modes and Routines in One UI 8.5.

First up, we have a look at the new Modes and Routines UI within the Settings menu. The Modes and Routines page is very consistent with the other menus we’ve already shown off in One UI 8.5. We have a floating pill-shaped menu at the bottom, with a drop shadow element to indicate selected options. We see the familiar Modes, Routines, and Discover options in this menu. The Discover option has the infamous orange dot, indicating new features are available.

Ask Bixby and Ask Gemini Actions in One UI 8.5

We found at least two new actions available in Routines for One UI 8.5. The Ask Bixby and Ask Gemini activities allow you to pass a query to either of these smart assistants. Presumably, this allows users to chain together actions and feed data to Bixby or Gemini to get an answer. This could be a very useful option, especially if paired with something like Touch Macros in Samsung’s Routines+ app.

The Ask Bixby and Ask Gemini UI are very similar. Both have a text box to enter your query, with a prominent drop shadow. Notably, the key difference between these menus is the list of suggested actions found under the Ask Bixby text box. Samsung suggests you try actions such as placing a call or turning on smart lights. Bixby can read your Now Brief as well, or remember your parking spot. It makes sense that Gemini does not have a list of suggestions, as it can answer a wide range of information queries.

All in all, the One UI 8.5 redesign looks much larger than the jump from One UI 7 to One UI 8. Samsung is trying to bring even more AI into the mix as well, as evidenced by these new Ask Bixby and Ask Gemini actions. If you’re looking forward to One UI 8.5, set us as a preferred source on Google below to get all of our latest findings as fast as possible. Also, if you’re purchasing the Galaxy S26 Ultra in January 2026, sign up for our mystery box program to get free accessories with your new phone!