Galaxy S25's One UI 8.5 update excludes several S26 features, including 'Now Nudge' and the '24MP' camera mode

Samsung started rolling out the stable One UI 8.5 update to Galaxy S25 series owners in South Korea earlier this week. The patch weighed in at about 580MB and arrived on May 6 after what felt like a drawn-out beta phase. Yet users who installed it quickly noticed that nearly all the major new features from the Galaxy S26 lineup were missing.

Early feedback from users who bagged the update suggests at least nine significant omissions. The biggest gripes so far center on the absent 24MP camera mode and the Now Nudge feature. Many had assumed these would make their way to the S25 phones since they do not appear to depend on brand-new hardware.

In a Reddit thread on r/S25Ultra, a user pointed out that the Horizon lock feature for video capture did not come along with the update.

On top of these, a seemingly basic UI element has also been excluded. Users on Reddit’s r/oneui have flagged that the Finder toggle is completely absent on the S25’s build of One UI 8.5. For context, the Galaxy S26 introduced a “Show Finder on Home screen” setting that places a dedicated, one-tap search button directly on the home screen, bypassing the need to swipe open the app drawer. Because this is purely a software interface choice and requires no advanced NPU power, its omission is leaving many users feeling shortchanged.

At the same time, the official Samsung Members community in Korea has become a spot where owners are logging even more gaps. These include Notification Highlights along with the Ask AI option in the Samsung Browser and the file summary tool inside My Files.

In the forums, a user mentioned that Tech YouTubers in Korea have already begun covering the update and highlighting the missing features. 

Plenty of commenters are calling out Samsung for what they see as an effort to hold back features and nudge people toward buying the latest models. Some have suggested that the older NPU might be the reason certain AI tools are absent.

Others have been quick to disagree though. They note that the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor in the S25 Ultra is more than capable of running tasks such as browser summaries. This has led many to view the omissions as a deliberate strategy to keep the different models clearly separated.

Furthermore, it seems like the missing features aren’t just an S25 thing. Galaxy Z Fold 7 owners are running into identical issues. One user posted on the Members forum expressing complete surprise that their foldable received the One UI 8.5 update but still lacked the Now Nudge feature. Since the Fold 7 relies on the same processor as the newer phones, the missing features have been hard for many to accept.

Camera improvements have also been left behind. Another post from Korean forums highlights the lack of a high-magnification remaster tool for 30x zoom shots and some tweaks for 8K recording. The decision to omit the 24MP default shooting mode is beginning to look like a conscious move to differentiate the S26 camera experience.

Samsung has yet to issue any public statement about these missing additions. The company has typically treated major One UI updates as a bridge between phone generations. This time, the divide appears to be holding steady for the moment. The stable One UI 8.5 rollout is likely to expand to other regions before long. As a result, many more users internationally will soon find themselves discovering these absent tools as well.

Update (May 11, 2026): This article has been updated to include user reports regarding the missing “Finder” home screen toggle, adding to the growing list of excluded UI features.

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