Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung devices with One UI 8.5 will be more resilient against theft.
- Samsung is expanding the Identity Check feature, which requires biometric unlocking before changing settings, to cover more aspects of the phone.
- Alas, these features need to be turned on manually, and One UI 8.5 likely won’t change that.
In the most recent leaked build of One UI 8.5, we’ve spotted additional features under theft protection. More specifically, these additions come to Identity Check, an Android feature introduced earlier this year and subsequently added to One UI 7. It safeguards users’ devices when they’re not at a trusted location and requires them to verify their identity using biometrics before accessing certain features or changing settings. Although Identity Check on One UI already protects a large number of features, Samsung is adding a few more to its ambit.
With One UI 8.5, Identity Check will expand to include the following features:
- Transfer a Samsung account using Smart Switch: This prevents your Samsung account from being added to another Samsung device on which the thief may have more privileges.
- Turn off Auto Blocker: One UI’s Auto Blocker prevents unauthorized apps from being installed on your Galaxy device. With this feature added to Identity Check, thieves will not be able to install apps that could help them compromise your stolen device.
- Unlock Secure Folder: One UI’s Secure Folder lets you hide sensitive apps or files, and this added functionality would prevent thieves from accessing your Secure Folder even if they have your PIN or password.
- Unlock Private albums: Private albums are expected to be added to the Gallery app as an alternative means of storing sensitive media files. Identity Check prevents anyone other than you from accessing them.
- Change USB connection settings: This would prevent unauthorized data transfer from or backdoor entry into your stolen device via USB.
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Even with these new device protection options, you will still need to manually turn on and set up Identity Check (which must be done on One UI 7 or 8 devices) to benefit from this feature fully. To achieve that, head to Settings on your Samsung device, and then go to Security and privacy > Lost device protection > Theft protection > Identity check, and then tap Turn On to set trusted locations.
⚠️ 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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