One small but cool feature coming to many Samsung phones running Android 14 is multi-touch drag and drop. You’ll soon be able to “hold” photos and files with one finger while your other hand selects folders or other apps on the screen. This is useful, as anyone with One UI 5.1.1 already knows.

Samsung phone with Android 14: multi-touch drag and drop

For many years now I have been able to use Gallery Drag photos from one album to another from your Samsung phone or tablet. The destination folder must be displayed first before dragging selected images there. Or you can transfer files between two Multiple windowDrag windows, provided you have previously set them up. As a result, the current drag-and-drop functionality on Galaxy devices is useful, but also very limited. This will change soon.

Starting with the upcoming upgrade to Android 14 and One UI 6, drag and drop will have multi-touch functionality. This means that you can simultaneously “hold” a file while browsing folders or applications. This works within both Gallery or my filesbut also between different applications.

For example, you can then put the downloaded PDF file into a folder Downloads Folder my files “Hold” it with your finger, go to the home screen with your other hand, open an email app, start a new email, and then “drop” the file in. In the same way, you can delete one or more photos from your device Gallery And – for example – put it in a WhatsApp conversation.

Moving forward: Not just in Android 14

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Hell, I can actually do that, can’t I?” So you have a Galaxy device with One UI 5.1.1. Please note: This is not version 5.1, which is available on many devices – it is the additional version .1. A select group of devices recently had a ‘One UI Large Screen Edition’. Multi-touch drag and drop is already available. Think Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and older Flip and Fold models. But recent Galaxy tablets, like the Galaxy Tab S9, S8, and S7, now also have One UI 5.1.1.

Who gets multi-touch drag and drop…?

However, this is only a small part of Samsung phones. The vast majority will only receive the multi-touch drag-and-drop feature with Android 14 and One UI 6. If you want to know if your phone qualifies as well, the question is whether you’ll receive this upgrade.

This is of course the case on devices like the Galaxy S23, S22, and S21, and on the Galaxy A54, A53, and A52(s). But there is much more than that. Check out the full overview of all Samsung Galaxy devices that will receive the Android 14 update.

Want to learn more about other new features? Then check out all the innovations in One UI 6 and Android 14.

…and when?

It is not yet clear when the upgrade will begin rolling out. Android 14 is expected to be officially released by Google one of these days. Only after some time will pass, the first Samsung phones will make a big leap, think about their launch from the end of October or the beginning of November. The Galaxy S23 series will be the first to arrive, followed in the following weeks by several other models and series.