Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung removed pollen tracking from its Weather app a little while ago, but it’s back in the leaked One UI 8.5 build we tested.
- This build shows tree, grass, and ragweed pollen levels on color-coded leaf icons, linking to Weather.com for details.
- The same version also refreshes the Weather app’s navigation buttons, borrowing design cues from iOS.
Samsung Weather gives you most of the staples you expect from that type of app, like temperature, UV index, and so on. However, one notable omission of late has been pollen counts. For some reason, Samsung decided to get rid of the pollen tracker back in the One UI 7 days. Allergy sufferers quickly noticed the loss, as disgruntled posts on Reddit and Samsung’s own forums attest. At best, people could still dig into Weather.com through a buried link at the bottom of the app, but the dedicated pollen cards were gone. It looks like that might be about to change.
In the leaked One UI 8.5 build we’ve been testing, those pollen cards are back. The Weather app once again shows tree, grass, and ragweed pollen, each on a color-coded leaf icon with severity levels like “None,” “Low,” and “Moderate” to give people with allergies a heads up.
When you tap any of the three leaves, you’re redirected to Weather.com for a more detailed breakdown, including forecasts for the days ahead. And this isn’t the only change we’re seeing in the One UI 8.5 Weather app.
As the images above show, the same build updates its interface with some iOS-inspired tweaks. The back arrow, search icon, and three-dot menu all get a new look in line with the broader visual refresh Samsung is preparing with One UI 8.5.
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It’s unclear whether the pollen tracker will roll out to all Galaxy phones or remain limited by region. Since the app relies on Weather.com as its source, availability will likely vary depending on local coverage. Still, its reappearance is a welcome addition if you rely on this data to decide when to keep the windows shut.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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