You may have seen those privacy screen protectors that limit the viewing angles of the phone’s (or laptop’s) screen so that you can see it head on, but people off to the side can’t peek over your shoulder. Samsung seems to have figured out how to achieve the same functionality without a special screen protector – and, more importantly, the feature can be toggled on or off as desired.
Initially spotted inside One UI 8.5 code, the Privacy Display feature is described as such: “Limits screen visibility from side angles to protect your privacy in public.”
Now, X user Ach has shared screenshots that cast light on how Samsung envisions this working. There is an Auto Privacy toggle in the settings that can enable Privacy Display in crowded public places, everything from elevators to public transport. Alternatively, you can use a schedule to turn the feature on or off. You will be able to add apps for which Privacy Display kicks in.
The settings menu for the new Privacy Display feature
If we’re reading this right, this feature can obscure only part of the display – e.g. a notification that popped up or a picture-in-picture window. Additionally, you can choose to protect images in the gallery that contain private information or are tagged as protected. Screen locking options can also be protected (this refers to the PIN, password and pattern interfaces).
A final step dubbed “Maximum Privacy” reduces the screen brightness when Privacy Display is on to make things even harder to see for people around you.
Now, this was discovered in One UI 8.5 code, but it will certainly need hardware support to work – according to Ach, this will be available on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. So, it won’t work on older models, even after they get updated to v8.5. And given Samsung’s history of keeping cool screen tech exclusive to the Ultra, we wouldn’t bet on the other S26 models having it.
