One UI 8.5 could come with a new animation for lock screen media

We’ve seen a lot of One UI 8.5 in recent weeks, stemming from leaked builds that have made their way out ahead of an official beta reportedly starting before the end of the year. Early this morning, a splashy new lock screen media animation from an in-progress One UI 8.5 build surfaced on Twitter.

A video shared by Tarun Vats on Twitter demonstrates the new effect on a phone running One UI 8.5. When tapping to skip forward or back, large album art fades from one album to the next, along with a sort of wipe effect that expands from one or two seemingly random spots within the frame.

It’s a lot of motion to move from one track to the next, but the whole animation plays out in less than a second with each skip, so it’s not too distracting. You can see the effect in the embedded tweet below.

The new effect is slick and definitely doesn’t look like anything you’ll find in the UIs of major competing manufacturers in the US market. Personally, I think it’s a little busy, and the split-second delay between tapping the skip button and the transition taking place makes it feel slower than it should. The animation we’re seeing here is from a pre-release One UI build, though, so it’s subject to change before it rolls out broadly next year.

What do you think of this new animation? Are you clamoring for One UI 8.5 on your own Galaxy phone? Sound off down below.