‘Galaxy has played huge role in advancing Android as a whole’: Samsung’s Sally Jeong on partnership with Google

Samsung has been a long-standing innovator in the smartphone industry, and this innovation hasn't been limited to hardware evolution as the company has also consistently improved the Android software experience, a process that has been instrumental in advancing the Google-owned operating system as a whole, a top executive from the South Korean company has stated.

Sally Hyesoon Jeong

, EVP and Head of Framework R&D, Mobile eXperience Business, Samsun, further emphasised that the collaborative nature of the partnership between these two tech giants is far more extensive than commonly understood.“Back in 2011, we launched Galaxy Note 2. My first Android device, so this is very special to me. We launched multi-window on the Galaxy Note 2. It gave people a new way to use a large screen and become a standard for the full mobile industry,” she told The Times of India Tech soon after the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Galaxy Z Flip7.

Jeong explained how Android 12L brought convenient features for larger screens like taskbars and split screen layout in apps. She said that this collaboration didn’t just benefit Galaxy users but also other Android makers and all Android users.

“I can say that the ideas that started with Galaxy have played a huge role in advancing Android as a whole. This has been possible thanks to our long-standing partnership with Google. By introducing new features on Galaxy first, we've been able to contribute to creating a better experience for all Android users,” she added.

‘Samsung worked closely with Google for software on Galaxy Z Fold7’

One of the main highlights of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the deep integration of Google's

Gemini AI capabilities

, including Gemini Live, with OneUI 8. When asked about the next phase of Samsung-Google partnership in the foldable space, especially when Google is gradually scaling up its own foldable and smartphone lineup, Jeong said that both the companies will continue to work to continuously expand the ecosystem.“In 2019, we introduced the world's first foldable device with new software like three-way, multi-window, and flex mode to match. So these kinds of new form factors work well when the Android ecosystem grows with them. So that's why we've always worked closely with Google,” Jeong added.“Today, I'm really happy to share that our new foldable device comes with

one UI 8

and Android 16 together,” she said.

“I can say that the ideas that started with Galaxy have played a huge role in advancing Android as a whole. This has been possible thanks to our long-standing partnership with Google. By introducing new features on Galaxy first, we've been able to contribute to creating a better experience for all Android users,” Jeong highlighted.Noting examples of Samsung-Google collaboration, Jeong said that the Now Bar, first shown on the Galaxy S25, was built together with Google. The feature started with Google Sports and Samsung apps, and now it’s an official Android 16 feature so people can check live information more easily with richer applications like Uber and Lyft, globally. “So, after years of work on large screens, we now have adaptive applications by default. This means Android is totally ready to look great on any screen,” Jeong said, adding that Samsung Galaxy’s DeX feature will now be a part of Android too.