Galaxy S26 Brings Smarter Now Brief and Background Task Execution

The Galaxy S26 lineup launched last week, marking the stable debut of One UI 8.5. Samsung did not reveal much about One UI 8.5 on stage, but it did highlight two important AI upgrades. The new flagships bring a smarter Now Brief that can read notifications and also feature Google’s Agentic AI system powered by Gemini.

Galaxy S26 Now Brief and background AI tasks

As demonstrated at the Galaxy Unpacked event, the Galaxy S26 lineup includes an upgraded version of Now Brief. It looks similar to what we have seen before, but it is now more capable. The new Now Brief can read your notifications and automatically add important alerts or reminders to relevant sections without you doing it manually.

For example, if you receive a notification about a meeting or a restaurant reservation and forget to set a reminder, the Galaxy S26 can detect it. Then it adds an alert to your Now Brief. However, only certain apps seem to have support for this feature at the moment.

The implementation feels practical and helpful. Small events that usually slip through can now show up automatically in your Now Brief. It reduces the chances of missing something important.

Alongside this, the Galaxy S26 lineup also has Google Gemini’s Agentic AI system. This allows the phone to understand context and carry out certain tasks in the background. For instance, during a conversation, the AI can analyze messages, decide what action is needed, and complete it through a supported app. It could place an order or book a cab, depending on your conversations. You can monitor its progress or interrupt it if needed.

Right now, only a few apps support this feature, like Uber and GrubHub. It is still in an early preview stage, and support for more apps should be added soon.

No other Galaxy devices support these features as of now, but the likes of Galaxy S25 series and Galaxy Z Fold 7 might receive them with the stable One UI 8.5 update. However, there is no official confirmation yet.