C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
Reddit users recently discovered that some Galaxy AI features are only available in China.
This includes Social Composer, Ask AI, Touch Assistant, and Samsung Assistant.
Of these four features, Social Composer is the only one I’d rather not see in more regions, as it would worsen the quality of social media platforms.
Generative AI features are generating a lot of excitement right now, and Samsung has perhaps the best selection of AI-powered features on mobile devices. The availability of Galaxy AI features differs by region, though. It turns out that Chinese users have access to some AI features that even U.S. users don’t have. One of those features is called Social Composer, and based on its description, I think the rest of the world is better off without it.
With the increase in AI writing tools, more people are using them to write posts online. Some people use them to help correct simple grammar or spelling mistakes, while others use them to generate entire articles to save time. Using AI to correct issues with text you’ve written yourself is fine—I do it all the time—but relying on it to create text can be problematic. The resulting text often reads inauthentically, which is especially concerning when shared on social media platforms designed for real people to share their thoughts.
That’s why I’m glad that Samsung’s Social Composer feature isn’t available globally. The feature uses AI to generate social media posts based on your images. I don’t think it would perform well, though. I haven’t actually used Social Composer myself since it’s only available in China, but I suspect it would generate social media posts that are bland, cringeworthy, or nonsensical. Given how other AI-powered attempts at social media creation are going, it’s unlikely Social Composer would be any better.
Social Composer isn’t the only China-exclusive Galaxy AI feature
Though I’m happy that Social Composer isn’t available globally, I’m a bit frustrated that Samsung chose to exclude the rest of the world from some other Galaxy AI features. Samsung Assistant, for example, seems like it would be incredibly useful. It contains a number of helpful tools, most notably a “clipboard assistant” feature that scans the clipboard to provide recommended actions in a panel. These actions let you quickly correct, summarize, translate, favorite, search, or open text that you’ve copied. The clipboard overlay found in the standard version of Android supports some of these actions, but the overlay is notably absent from One UI 7.
Samsung Assistant also includes an “app return assistant” feature that provides a floating menu to quickly return to select apps (takeout, taxi, maps, navigation, and more), a “feature suggestion assistant” that offers recommendations on features to help you use your phone more efficiently, a “rewards assistant” that gives you information about rewards benefits when you use certain apps, and a “recording assistant” that adds a floating button to record calls in supported apps. The “rewards assistant” might not be applicable to many apps outside of China, but I can see the rest having some use in global markets.
The other two Galaxy AI features exclusive to China are Ask AI and Touch Assistant. Ask AI lets you ask questions to an AI chatbot, which generates a response based on its knowledge and information from the web. Since Gemini, Google’s AI model, is available on Galaxy phones outside of China, I can understand why Samsung didn’t bring Ask AI to global versions of One UI 7. Touch Assistant, meanwhile, processes text on screen to “improve your reading efficiency.” It’s similar to Circle to Search, so it makes sense why it’s not available outside of China.
Galaxy AI is the most comprehensive suite of generative AI tools on mobile devices, and it’s even better equipped in China. Given the limited availability of Google services in China, it makes sense why some features are only available in that market. Some features, like Samsung Assistant and Social Composer, could be rolled out globally, though. I’d like to see Samsung Assistant make its way to global markets, but I’m content with Social Composer staying right where it is.
Thanks to Reddit user FragmentedChicken for sharing screenshots and screen recordings of these China-exclusive Galaxy AI features!