Samsung seems to be working on an AI-powered tool to summarize longer alerts on Galaxy phones, mirroring Apple’s increasing efforts to rein in notification hell. Pre-release software indicates the system can summarize long conversations and other loquacious notifications on-device, with user controls to opt in and out of specific apps.
What early One UI 8.5 builds reveal about the feature
References to the feature were discovered in an early build of One UI 8.5 seemingly running on a Galaxy S25 Ultra test device, which was first reported by SamMobile. One of the screens in the interface includes a prompt informing users that “longer conversations can now be summarized to give quick recaps,” and a disclosure that processing is taking place on the device. The toggle is there but not fully functional, so it’s clear the groundwork is in place even if Samsung hasn’t turned it on for public testing.
- What early One UI 8.5 builds reveal about the feature
- How it compares to Apple and Google’s approaches
- Why on-device processing for notification summaries matters
- Controls and real-world use for Galaxy notification summaries
- Expected rollout timing and device eligibility for One UI 8.5
- Bottom line: what to expect from Samsung’s AI summaries
The same settings page also hints that the feature is optional, can be turned off at any time, and features per-app exclusions.
Samsung also notes that there may be occasional mistakes—standard language for generative AI features that will generate short summaries from unstructured text.
How it compares to Apple and Google’s approaches
Apple showed the way with Scheduled Summary in iOS, which groups lower-priority notifications for delivery at your chosen times. More recently, Apple Intelligence features on-device summaries for notifications and messages (available on a supported iPhone or iPad). Samsung’s idea, if released as I’ve described it, would have more in common with newer on-device summarization from Apple than an effortless bundling or “priority” filters.
Google has provided on Android a sort of Gemini-like functionality in the form of notification behavioral rules (both at the per-app level and generally) as well as ongoing system-wide work around how notifications are batched up and surfaced. But a native top-to-bottom AI summary for our incoming notifications has not shipped widely. And Samsung, which already has Galaxy AI tools that will sum up web pages, notes and voice recordings for you, appears ready to expand those powers into your phone’s most attention-seeking part: the shade.
Why on-device processing for notification summaries matters
Samsung’s point that summaries are calculated locally is key on a few levels. First, privacy: notification content is potentially very personal, so keeping the data on-device means no server-side processing. Second, reliability and speed: on-device models lower latency while continuing to work in the absence of any network connection. Third, cost and sustainability: running inference on the phone’s NPU reduces cloud utilization and energy waste as a whole.
The trade-off is in model size and complexity. More compact, scalable models need to generalize well enough to recognize senders, topics, and action items in noisy multi-message threads. There will be times in which users may witness misfires—so having clear undo reactions and granular controls is crucial.
Controls and real-world use for Galaxy notification summaries
Based on the initial settings, it sounds like Samsung will let users globally turn summaries on or off, and exclude sensitive apps — say, banking or work channels, or anything where you generally need to see the full context. Expect per-app behavior to vary: a chat app could create bullet-point summaries of a busy group thread, while a shopping app might condense an extensive promotional push into a single line noting the main offer and expiration.
This is a big deal, because we find ourselves today in the position of managing an ever-growing stream of alerts from messaging, collaboration, ride-hailing and social apps — not to mention commerce.
Industry reports from companies like Airship and Adjust indicate that many users receive dozens of pushes a day, and that over-notification is a leading cause of app uninstalls. Smart, trustworthy summaries might reduce cognitive load — and without simply holding back what matters.
Expected rollout timing and device eligibility for One UI 8.5
The feature, as well as a timeline for release, was not announced by Samsung. Its appearance in a One UI 8.5 build suggests we may see notification summaries appear with that release, potentially first on the latest flagship and then on other recent Galaxy models as they get updated to One UI. The way of the world, and of Samsung: historically, its mid-cycle One UI updates arrive for a wide range of devices that already met the specifications for the major version underneath them — though exact lists differ by region and chipset.
As with any pre-release software, features may change, fall back to later builds, or be pulled altogether before public release. But the blend of UI strings, settings toggles and Samsung’s evident commitment to Galaxy AI are enough to ensure that this is more evolutionary pursuit than experimental.
Bottom line: what to expect from Samsung’s AI summaries
One UI 8.5 test software code indicates Samsung is preparing to bring Apple-style AI-powered notification summaries to Galaxy phones, processed on-device and controlled by the user at a granular level. If it ships, the feature could be one of Samsung’s most useful Galaxy AI tools yet — quietly condensing all those notifications you churn through each day into something you can skim in seconds. Samsung has not yet shared official details; we’ve asked the company for comment, and will update if it does so.
