Samsung Modes & Routines December 2025: One UI 8.5 Leak, Galaxy Watch 6 Update, and New Automation Tricks

Published: December 6, 2025

A fresh One UI 8.5 leak today reveals two headline features: Direct voicemail and a system-wide Private album for photos and videos. ^[1]
Modes & Routines app version 4.9.04.20 fixes a major Galaxy Watch 6 bug so modes now trigger correctly on both phone and watch. ^[2]
One UI 8 adds new preset routines and deeper automation hooks into Clock, Calendar, and Samsung Notes, making Modes & Routines more powerful. ^[3]
One UI 8 Watch is rolling out to Galaxy smartwatches, bringing new fitness tools and tiles that pair naturally with Modes & Routines on your phone. ^[4]
Samsung’s Galaxy AI features like Now Brief and Now Bar rely on personal context that is tied to Modes & Routines being enabled on One UI 8 or later. ^[5]

What’s new today: One UI 8.5 leak adds Direct voicemail and Private album

As of December 6, 2025, Samsung fans have a new look at what’s coming in One UI 8.5. A leak highlighted in Samsung-focused outlet Sammy Fans shows two big additions that will ship with the mid-cycle update: Direct voicemail and a Private album in the Gallery app. ^[6]

Direct voicemail brings a Pixel‑ and iPhone‑style experience to Galaxy phones. Instead of sending every missed call to a dull carrier voicemail box, One UI 8.5 will let callers record a message while they’re calling you. After a configurable delay (or immediately, if you prefer), callers are prompted to leave a message, and you’ll see the contents on-screen as text. ^[7]

The second addition, Private album, turns Samsung Gallery into a more privacy‑focused space. A hidden album already exists behind Gallery Labs in One UI 8, but the leak shows One UI 8.5 bringing it fully into the main Gallery UI. The album will live in the Gallery menu, and opening it will require biometric authentication, providing a simple way to hide sensitive photos and videos without diving into Secure Folder. ^[8]

The same report suggests Samsung plans to start the One UI 8.5 beta on December 8, beginning with the Galaxy S25 series in a handful of markets. ^[9]

Why this matters for Samsung Modes & Routines (and Galaxy AI)

On paper, Direct voicemail and Private album sound like phone features – but they sit inside a broader story: Samsung is turning One UI 8 / 8.5 + Modes & Routines + Galaxy AI into one giant context engine.

Samsung’s official One UI 8 documentation confirms that the update is built around new AI‑powered experiences and deeper automation, including new preset routines and actions. ^[10]

At the same time, Samsung’s own Galaxy AI explainers and rollout notes make an important point in the fine print: features like Now Brief – the personalized briefing card that surfaces calendar, traffic and fitness summaries – rely on a Personal Data Engine, and that engine expects Modes and Routines to be enabled so it can understand what you’re doing and when. ^[11]

In other words:

The smarter Now Brief, Now Bar, and other Galaxy AI features get, the more tightly they’re tied to your Modes & Routines setup.

So when Samsung adds things like a Private album, Direct voicemail, and even new Audio Brief controls for Now Brief – which also rolled out today via an update to Samsung’s Personal Data Intelligence app ^[12] – it’s not just UI polish. It’s more context that your phone can hook into your modes (“Work”, “Home”, “Sleep”) and routines (“If I’m driving, send calls to Direct voicemail,” for example).

The quiet but important Modes & Routines update for Galaxy Watch 6

A couple of days before today’s One UI 8.5 leak, Samsung quietly pushed a notable update to the Modes & Routines app itself, taking it to version 4.9.04.20. ^[13]

The changelog is short but meaningful:

Earlier, some Galaxy Watch 6 owners hit an annoying bug:
starting or stopping a mode from the watch only changed the state on the phone, not the watch. Routines felt half‑broken, because the wearable ignored the mode. ^[14]
Version 4.9.04.20 fixes that. When you enable or end a mode from your Galaxy Watch 6, it now properly applies on both the watch and the paired phone, keeping conditions and actions in sync across devices. ^[15]

APK hosting site APKMirror lists the same version and describes Modes & Routines as a service that automatically changes device settings based on time and place, recommending useful routines so you don’t have to tweak toggles manually. ^[16]

For anyone who lives inside automations – “Sleep” dimming both phone and watch, or a “Workout” mode that toggles Do Not Disturb, plays music, and starts workout tracking – this bug fix is arguably as important as a flashy new feature.

One UI 8 and One UI 8 Watch: automation is now everywhere

While One UI 8.5 is still in the leak-and-beta phase, One UI 8 (Android 16) is already rolling out widely to phones and tablets, and it significantly upgrades what Modes & Routines can do. Samsung’s support docs highlight several key changes: ^[17]

New preset routines
One UI 8 ships with additional ready‑made routines for things like weather and more advanced conditions. You can run them out of the box or customize them.
New routine actions
Routines can now pull data from Clock, Calendar, and Samsung Notes and feed that data into conditions or actions – for example, reacting to upcoming calendar events or reminding you based on a note.
Overall, One UI 8 is pitched as combining “new AI technology features with a refined look and feel,” and routines are one of the main ways you experience that day to day. ^[18]

On wearables, One UI 8 Watch (based on Wear OS 6) is also rolling out to the Galaxy Watch 8, Watch 7, Watch 6 and more. Samsung is adding features like Running Coach, Vascular Load, Antioxidant Index, and Multi‑Info Tiles, all of which can be surfaced via tiles and Now Bar for richer, at‑a‑glance info. ^[19]

Pair this with the Galaxy Watch 6 bug fix in Modes & Routines and you get a much more coherent story:

Phone, tablet, and watch all understand your mode (Sleep, Work, Driving, Focus).
Routines can act on more apps and health data.
Galaxy AI (through Now Brief, Now Bar, and Personal Data Intelligence) uses that context to show smarter suggestions and summaries. ^[20]

Quick primer: What exactly are Modes & Routines?

If you’re only hearing about Modes & Routines now thanks to these updates – or because you saw the recent viral MakeUseOf article about how powerful they are ^[21] – here’s the short version, based on Samsung’s official help guides. ^[22]

Modes: “big” profiles for different parts of your day

Modes are top‑level profiles like:

Sleep
Driving
Work
Exercise
Home / Me Time

When you turn on a mode, One UI changes multiple settings at once – notifications, sound, lock screen behaviour, wallpaper, screen brightness, and even watch faces on connected Galaxy watches. You can also create custom modes with your own name, color, and icon, and have them turn on automatically based on triggers like time, location, or connecting to your car’s Bluetooth. ^[23]

Routines: “if this, then that” for your Galaxy

Routines are more granular automations. They follow a simple logic:

If some condition is true → then perform one or more actions.

Samsung’s documentation lists a huge range of options: ^[24]

Triggers (“If”)
- Time and day
- Location or Wi‑Fi network
- Bluetooth device connected
- App opened
- Battery level, charging status
- Motion or activity detection, and more
Actions (“Then”)
- Toggle Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, Mobile data, NFC
- Change sound profile and volume
- Open an app or run a specific feature inside an app
- Adjust display settings, including Eye Comfort Shield and Always‑On Display
- Control smart home devices, alarms, and more

You can create routines from Settings → Modes and Routines → Routines tab → Add (+), picking a trigger under “If” and actions under “Then,” then saving with a name and icon. ^[25]

Five useful Modes & Routines ideas for 2025

Once you’re on One UI 8 (or later), these kinds of automations become even more powerful because they can tap into more apps and Galaxy AI features. Here are practical ideas you can set up today:

Smart Driving mode with Direct voicemail prep
- If your phone connects to your car Bluetooth, enable Driving mode, turn on Do Not Disturb, keep calls limited to favourites, and (when One UI 8.5 arrives) automatically route unknown callers to Direct voicemail so you get a transcript instead of a distraction. ^[26]
Calendar‑aware Focus mode
- Create a routine that checks for ongoing meetings in your Calendar, then toggles a Focus mode: mutes notifications, locks down distracting apps, and shows only work widgets on your home screen. One UI 8’s new actions that read data from Calendar make this easier. ^[27]
Sleep mode across phone and watch
- Use a Sleep mode that lowers screen brightness, switches the watch face to a minimal sleep‑tracking design, turns on Bedtime mode, and silences notifications except for important contacts. The Galaxy Watch 6 sync fix in Modes & Routines ensures both devices now behave consistently when you start or end this mode from your wrist. ^[28]
Photo privacy when you’re sharing your phone
- Combine a “Guest” mode with the new Private album once One UI 8.5 lands: when you enable the Guest mode, automatically hide your Private album from Gallery’s main views and tighten notification content on the lock screen. ^[29]
Galaxy AI daily brief at the right time
- Use a morning routine that, at your usual wake‑up window, turns on Now Brief notifications, syncs your calendar, checks weather, and opens your preferred news or podcast app. Because Now Brief depends on the Personal Data Engine – which in turn leans on Modes & Routines – this kind of setup makes those AI summaries much more accurate. ^[30]

How to get today’s updates on your phone and watch

If you want to make sure you’re ready for One UI 8.5 and the latest Modes & Routines improvements:

1. Update your Galaxy phone or tablet to One UI 8

Samsung recommends checking for the latest major update via:

Settings → Software update → Download and install ^[31]

Many devices are already getting One UI 8 with the November or December 2025 security patches; others are on the updated rollout roadmap for this month. ^[32]

2. Update Modes & Routines

Open Galaxy Store → Menu → Updates and install the latest Modes & Routines app (look for version 4.9.04.20 or newer). ^[33]

3. Update your Galaxy Watch to One UI 8 Watch

In the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone, head to the watch’s Software update section.
One UI 8 Watch is rolling out to the Watch Ultra, Watch 7, Watch 6, and Watch 5 families, with final coverage expected once Galaxy Watch 4 gets its turn. ^[34]

4. Install the latest Personal Data Intelligence update

If you use Now Brief or other Galaxy AI features, check the Galaxy Store → Updates list for the Personal Data Intelligence app. The newest version adds an Audio Brief toggle inside Now Brief’s settings and paves the way for future One UI 8.5 enhancements. ^[35]

What’s coming next for Modes & Routines and One UI 8.5

Based on today’s and this week’s reporting, here’s what the near future looks like:

December 8, 2025 – Samsung is expected to open the One UI 8.5 beta for the Galaxy S25 series in select countries. ^[36]
The beta is likely to be more limited than the broader One UI 8 beta, focusing on S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra owners. ^[37]
One UI 8.5 will continue to refine the new Glass‑style UI, redesigned Quick Settings, updated stock apps (Calculator, Calendar, Clock, Internet, Notes, Reminder), and more advanced Galaxy AI hooks. ^[38]

All of this sits on top of what Samsung already shipped in One UI 8: more powerful routines, new preset automations, and much tighter connections between phone, watch, and Galaxy AI. ^[39]

If you’ve been ignoring Modes & Routines until now, December 2025 is a good moment to dive in. Set up a few smart modes, add a couple of routines, and by the time One UI 8.5 rolls out on your device, you’ll already have a personal automation system waiting to take advantage of the new features.

Unleashing One UI 7 on Samsung Devices!

Watch this video on YouTube.

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