How to Use Galaxy AI: Features, Settings, Privacy, and Cost

How to use Galaxy AI: where do you turn it on and what first?

Galaxy AI is Samsung’s set of AI tools in One UI, and you turn most of them on in Settings under Galaxy AI. Each tool then shows up where you use it: the Phone app for call translation, Samsung Notes for summaries, the keyboard for rewriting, the home button for Circle to Search, and Gallery for photo editing.

A note on how this guide was built. I did not buy a new Galaxy and spend a month with it, so there is no “I tested it for weeks” claim here. Everything below comes from Samsung’s support guidance, Samsung newsroom announcements and press reports, and I mark the spots where menu names or details could not be confirmed. This is written for US and global readers, and feature availability differs by region, carrier and model.

The menu path is the first thing that trips people up. Recent One UI builds show Settings > Galaxy AI. Earlier builds and some devices tucked it under Settings > Advanced features, and Samsung’s older guidance even routed call translation through a different “advanced intelligence” heading. Whichever you have, the search bar at the top of Settings finds it fastest. If nothing shows up for “Galaxy AI,” your model or region may not be supported.

A sensible order for a first setup:

1. Install the latest software update, because features arrive through One UI updates.
2. Sign in to your Samsung account, which several features require.
3. Turn on only the features you will actually use.
4. If you will translate in another language, download the language packs on Wi-Fi first.

I would not flip every switch on day one. Each extra feature is one more thing whose privacy behavior you should understand.

What can Galaxy AI do, and where is each feature?

Here is the working map. Menu names vary by model and One UI version, so treat the middle column as a starting point.

Feature	What it does	Where to enable it	Needs network?
Live Translate (Call Assist)	Translates both sides of a phone call into voice and text	Settings > Galaxy AI > Call Assist, or Phone app settings	Language packs allow on-device use; Samsung guidance also lists account and connection checks
Interpreter	Split-screen, face-to-face translation	Quick settings panel	Can work offline with downloaded languages
Note Assist	Summaries, auto-formatting, spelling fixes, translation	Samsung Notes, AI button	Summaries generally need a connection
Writing Assist (Chat Assist)	Tone changes, translation, spelling, reply suggestions	Settings > Galaxy AI > Writing Assist, then in keyboard and Messages	Partly cloud
Circle to Search	Search anything on screen by circling it	Long-press home button or gesture handle	Yes
Photo editing (eraser tools)	Remove objects, shadows, reflections	Gallery > Edit > Tools > eraser	Varies by tool
Transcript Assist	Turns a recording into text, then summarizes	Voice Recorder, open a recording	Network and Samsung account required
Browsing Assist	Summarizes or translates a web page	Samsung Internet	Typically yes

Read the last column carefully. A lot of people assume “AI on my phone” means everything is processed locally. Samsung itself describes a mix, which I get to in the privacy section.

How does Galaxy AI Live Translate work on phone calls?

According to Samsung’s support guidance, you go to Settings > Galaxy AI > Call Assist, turn on Live Translate, pick your language and the other person’s language, and download the language packs if prompted. The Phone app’s own settings offer the same switch. Samsung’s support page for the feature is here, and it is written for the Korean market, so the menu wording on a US phone may differ.

On the call, the other person speaks, you hear the translation, and you see captions on screen. Samsung described it at launch as working whether or not the other party has a Galaxy. The practical advice is mundane: speak in short sentences, pause for the translation, and never talk over each other.

Samsung’s guidance also says availability depends on language and region and that results can differ each time. Treat it as a good aid for logistics, not as a legal interpreter.

A failure pattern worth avoiding

This is a composite scenario, not something I experienced. Someone needs to rebook a hotel by phone after landing abroad and turns on call translation in the taxi. The language pack for the other language has not been downloaded, the roaming data is off, and the feature stalls while the front desk waits. The fix costs two minutes at home: download both packs on Wi-Fi, run a test call with a friend, and know where the toggle is before you need it.

Face-to-face conversations are a separate tool. Interpreter splits the screen so each person reads their half, and with language packs installed it is described as usable offline.

How do Note Assist, Writing Assist, and voice recording summaries work?

These are the text tools, and they live in different apps.

Summarizing in Samsung Notes

Per Samsung community guidance, you select the text, tap the AI button, and choose Summarize. It works on a limited amount of text at a time rather than a whole long note, returns a short summary, and lets you replace the selection or add the summary above it. Auto-format turns rough notes into a headed or bulleted layout. Handwritten notes work best when the writing is clear.

Writing Assist on the keyboard and in Messages

If Writing Assist is off, turn it on under Settings > Galaxy AI. You can then rewrite a draft in a different tone, translate it, fix spelling and grammar, or get reply suggestions. The output varies run to run. For anything important, such as a job application or a complaint letter, read it yourself before sending.

Turning a recording into text

In the Voice Recorder app, open a recording, choose the transcript option, pick the language, and run it. Samsung’s guidance says summaries need a signed-in Samsung account and a connection, and that very short recordings will not summarize. The full steps are on Samsung’s voice recorder support page. I could not confirm an official description of an “interview mode” in the recorder, so if you need speaker separation for a meeting or interview, check whether your model offers it before relying on it. Accents, crosstalk and technical vocabulary are where transcripts go wrong.

How do Circle to Search and the photo eraser work?

Circle to Search is a Google feature that Samsung phones surface through the navigation bar. Long-press the home button or the gesture handle, then circle, tap or scribble over what you want to look up, and Google Search results appear. If it does not appear, check Settings > Display > Navigation bar. Google’s own Circle to Search overview covers the basic gesture. It needs a connection, and the results screen is Google’s, so Google’s terms apply.

The photo eraser lives in Gallery. Open a photo, tap the edit icon, open Tools, choose the eraser, tap or circle the object, and confirm. Shadow and reflection removal sit in the same area. Samsung’s own notes warn that simple backgrounds give natural results while busy patterns can leave a visible smear. Remove small things first and in several passes.

One thing to know before you share these photos: generative edits add an indicator that the image contains AI-generated content. There is no obvious setting to turn that off, and I would not strip it to pass off an edited photo as untouched, especially in a marketplace listing or an insurance claim. If you simply want better shots to begin with, my phone photography tips cut down how often you need an eraser at all.

Which Galaxy phones and languages does Galaxy AI support?

Galaxy AI began on the Galaxy S24 series. One UI 6.1 then extended it to the S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5 and Flip5, and Tab S9 series, per 2024 reporting. Samsung’s May 2026 One UI 8.5 announcement lists the S25 series, S25 FE, S24 series, S24 FE, Z Fold7 and Flip7, Z Fold6 and Flip6, and the Tab S11 and Tab S10 series, and states that features may vary by model and service region.

What to check	Where	Why it matters
Model support	Your model’s page on samsung.com	Mid-range models often get a subset
One UI version	Settings > Software update	Features are added by update
Language support	The feature’s footnote	Each tool has its own language list
Region and carrier	Settings > General management	Rollouts can differ by market

On languages, Samsung’s announcement on October 14, 2026 (Korean newsroom) says Call Assist, Note Assist, Interpreter and Transcript Assist expand from 22 to 24 languages by adding Malay and Hungarian, rolling out from the end of October. If you do not see them yet, the staged rollout is the likeliest reason.

Does Galaxy AI keep my data on the phone?

Not always. Samsung’s newsroom explains that for features like Live Translate, Interpreter and Audio Eraser the input stays on the device. Community and press explanations say other tools, such as summaries, style rewrites, spelling checks and recording summaries, go through cloud models, including Google’s Gemini family. In short, it is a hybrid.

Type	Examples	What follows
On-device	Interpreter, Live Translate, Audio Eraser	Works with language packs; less data leaves the phone
Cloud	Summaries, rewrites, some recording tools	Needs connection and often an account; usually better output
Third-party	Circle to Search, Gemini, ChatGPT	Governed by that company’s terms and privacy policy

If you want to restrict things, many outlets describe an option near the bottom of the Galaxy AI menu that processes data only on the device. Two caveats: you lose or degrade some features, such as certain summaries and auto-formatting, and the toggle covers Samsung’s own tools, not separate AI apps. Exact placement depends on your One UI version. Samsung explains its approach in a newsroom post on privacy and Galaxy AI (in Korean).

My own rule of thumb is simple. Anything with medical details, legal terms or someone else’s private information gets read by me, or goes through on-device-only processing. A grocery list can go anywhere. For another angle on what chat assistants remember about you, see the ChatGPT memory guide.

Is Galaxy AI free, or will Samsung charge for it?

As of October 2026, press coverage of Samsung’s statements says its Galaxy AI features are free and that it has no plans to charge for them. The history explains why people still ask.

• When the Galaxy S24 launched in 2024, product footnotes said Galaxy AI features would be free “through 2025,” and executives later said the longer-term answer depended on customer needs.
• In 2025, around the Z Fold7 and Flip7 launch, reports said Samsung had discussed monetization internally but had no plan to put the tools behind a paywall.
• In 2026, outlets reported Samsung updating its wording to say basic tools remain free. A May 2026 Samsung newsroom post (Australia edition) was reported as saying features are currently free of charge, with premium AI services to be decided with partners. The US release was reported to add that enhanced and third-party AI features may be subject to different terms and fees.

Practical reading: Samsung’s own core features such as translation, note summaries and erasers look free for now. Third-party services such as a Gemini subscription are priced by their owners. I could not open Samsung’s pages directly while researching this, so I am relying on the reporting above. Read the footnote on your model’s page before you spend money.

If you are weighing a phone upgrade partly for AI, the Apple Intelligence vs. Gemini comparison and the 2026 smartphone buying guide are worth a look.

What do you check when Galaxy AI is missing or not working?

Most failures are unmet conditions rather than broken software. Work down this list.

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
No Galaxy AI menu	Unsupported model, old One UI, region	Update; check the model page
Summarize button greyed out	Not signed in, text too short	Sign in; select more text
Call translation will not start	Missing language pack, no connection, unsupported language	Download packs on Wi-Fi; check the language list
Circle to Search does nothing	Navigation setting off	Settings > Display > Navigation bar
Eraser leaves a smear	Busy background, large object	Erase small pieces in passes
Results differ on repeat	Normal AI behavior	Review before using
A feature vanished	On-device-only option on	Turn it off and compare

The last row catches many people who tighten privacy settings and then wonder where summaries went. If you recently changed anything, undo it first.

If AI features seem to drain the battery, review background activity with my battery settings guide. Moving from an iPhone or another phone to a Galaxy? Do the phone-to-phone data transfer first, then set up AI. And if you want AI help beyond the phone, the AI tools guide for 2026 is a good next stop.

The best way to approach Galaxy AI is to pick two repeat situations, such as travel calls and meeting recordings, set those up properly, and ignore the rest until you need it.

This article is general information based on Samsung support guidance, Samsung newsroom announcements and press reports as of October 2026; I did not verify every procedure on a device. Menu names, supported models, languages, regional availability and pricing terms can change, so confirm them on samsung.com and in your phone’s Settings.