Our whole lives flash across our mobile display\u2014bank balances, passwords and much, much more. This new tech could keep us safer.<\/p>\n
Privacy Display is built into Samsung’s new $1,300 Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is available on March 11.<\/p>\n
I tried a new Samsung smartphone feature called Privacy Display\u2014and I\u2019m convinced that every device needs it. The tool obscures what’s on your screen from the people around you. It\u2019s the first security screen built into a mobile device, the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Someone who can see your screen can learn a lot about you: how much is in your bank account, what corporate secrets lurk in your email or\u2014most sensitively\u2014the code you type to unlock your phone. We’ve reported that thieves who spied on people entering their passcodes could use them to lock victims out of their digital lives.<\/p>\n
Samsung\u2019s Privacy Display would defend against those intruders. After a few hours playing with it, I see how it could be an essential security tool\u2014and also shield your fellow airplane passengers from that graphic HBO binge-
\nwatch. Apple and everyone else making smartphones should adopt this.<\/p>\n
How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n When you’re looking directly at the screen, everything looks..normal. When I picked up the $26 Ultra at a demo in San Francisco, I had to ask if the Privacy Display was active. Then, as I tilted the phone to the side, the display went dark, like it was turned off.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a software trick but an innovation of the physical OLED display itself. Wide pixels, which emit light to the sides, are separated from narrow, front-pointing pixels. In privacy mode, the device dims those wide pixels, while the narrow pixels emit light only at your face.<\/p>\n Within a 30-degree viewing angle, the screen is visible. Beyond that, it\u2019s dark. The result emulates those cheap plastic screen privacy filters, but without the downsides: A plastic filter might only block snoopers from side to side, not from all angles, and can get in the way when you don\u2019t want them. Because Samsung\u2019s software can control which pixels to disable\u2014and when\u2014it can selectively obstruct parts of the screen, then turn off the shield when you don\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n You can set Privacy Display to turn on only when you’re typing your device\u2019s passcode, or using certain apps, such as your password manager. It can shield incoming notifications\u2014just the pop-up and nothing else. You can also create routines to, for example, disable Privacy Display when you get home.<\/p>\n The feature doesn\u2019t protect you from all prying eyes. I could still see the PIN pad as I stood directly behind a representative holding a protected screen.<\/p>\n Samsung product manager Charles Uptegrove said the technology was five years in the making. The feature could extend battery life, because shutting off the wide pixels means less power is needed. The company isn\u2019t making that claim but I am going to try it out in my own testing.<\/p>\n Paging Apple<\/strong><\/p>\n For now, Privacy Display is only available on S26 Ultra, the top-of-the-line $1,300model shipping on March 11. The feature requires special hardware, so it can\u2019t become available on other phones via software update.<\/p>\n I\u2019m hopeful this essential, security-preserving technology will go beyond this year\u2019s Ultra, maybe even beyond the company\u2019s own line. Apple relies heavily on Samsung\u2019s displays for iPhones, so it\u2019s possible the functionality could cross over. Uptegrove said he couldn\u2019t comment on that side of the business and any of the company\u2019s future plans.<\/p>\n As a fan of iPhones and Google Pixel phones as well as Samsung\u2019s Galaxy phones, here\u2019s my plea: We carry our entire lives in our pockets, and that six-digit code protecting our phones is the master key. If every phone adopted this Nicole Nguyen is a Personal Tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, covering how technology companies\u2019 products and policies affect people’s lives. Her stories explore all aspects of consumer technology, particularly mobile devices, cybersecurity, health and fitness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our whole lives flash across our mobile display\u2014bank balances, passwords and much, much more. This new tech could keep us safer. Privacy Display is built into Samsung’s new $1,300 Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is available on March 11. I tried a new Samsung smartphone feature called Privacy Display\u2014and I\u2019m convinced that every device needs it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,4332,1402],"tags":[5393,5394,5392,5395,5390,5389,17,5373,5391],"class_list":{"0":"post-4403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"category-digital","9":"category-samsung","10":"tag-apple-samsung-displays","11":"tag-cybersecurity-mobile","12":"tag-mobile-privacy-technology","13":"tag-oled-display-technology","14":"tag-samsung-galaxy-s26-ultra","15":"tag-samsung-privacy-display","16":"tag-slider","17":"tag-smartphone-innovation","18":"tag-smartphone-security"},"yoast_head":"\n
\ndisappearing act, we could all be safer.<\/p>\n