Samsung's best privacy features are buried in One UI, and I wish I'd found them sooner

Published Jul 30, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Gaming has been Samarveer’s greatest passion, and the Literature graduate in him takes immense joy in dissecting games for their themes, messages, and impact. Samarveer holds a deep appreciation of gaming, and considers the platform to be the most immersive and impactful across all media. He can be found engaging with gaming communities online, always ready to debate the finer points of ray tracing or itching to write an 8-page collegiate thesis on any game that impacts him emotionally. Summary I use a power-button double-tap to max-dim my screen for quick privacy. I turned on Auto Blocker to stop sideloaded apps and block sketchy APKs. The Privacy Dashboard shows exactly when apps use mic, camera, location—giving real peace of mind. For years, I thought Samsung's privacy features mostly revolved around Secure Folder and app permissions. Having just gotten a new Galaxy S25 FE to get a taste of Android once again after four years, I realized while digging through One UI's tools and settings just how many genuinely useful privacy tricks were buried among the menus. None of these features require installing any third-party apps or sacrifice the experience that makes Galaxy phones so rewarding to use, either. They're all built into One UI, and after a full month of occasional usage, I do wish I'd taken the time out to set these privacy features on the moment I took the phone out of the box. Even my last-gen Samsung S25 FE has a privacy display... sort of My power button toggles an instnat instant privacy mode Now, I know that it's the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra that comes with the world's first built-in hardware privacy display, but I do manage to get halfway there on my Galaxy S25 FE, too. Without having to dim my screen's overall clarity, color accuracy, and brightness by applying a privacy tempered glass, I simply use a double-tap shortcut on the power button that is set to decrease my brightness and increase the dimming of my screen to a maximum. To turn this feature on, head into Settings → Modes and Routines. Tap on the Routines tab on the bottom, and tap the Plus sign to create a new routine. Click on the "Add what will trigger this routine" button, and select "Start manually." If you set up your routine to activate with a double-tap of the power button, another double-tap will reverse the dimming effects. In the actions tab below, search for "Extra dim," click on it, and drag the slider all the way to the right to set maximum dimming intensity. Tap "Done," and then add another action in the same category. Search for "Brightness" this time, and set it to around 8 or 10%. Tap "Done" and name this shortcut/routine anything you want, such as "Privacy" or "Dimming." With this done, all that's left to do is head back into Settings and select "Advanced features." Tap on the "Side button" option, select the "Double Press" option (it should be set to Camera by default). Select Modes and Routines in this list, and select "Extra Dim" or whatever other name you gave the routine you just created. Now, with a quick double-tap of my power button, I take my phone's brightness all the way down to ~8% as it dims as much as possible. It has genuinely made it easier to be the only one reading my messages every time I see someone a little too interested in my WhatsApp chats on the subway. Find My Mobile and Samsung Account Audit are worth the five minutes Two quiet safeguards I will hopefully never need Find My Mobile is pretty much Apple's Find My, and I was surprised at how I had just assumed Samsung wouldn't have an equally robust equivalent. It's a feature I hope I never have to use, but if my Galaxy ever goes missing, I'll be glad it's here. Beyond helping users locate, lock, or erase their phone completely, it also lets them verify that all the recovery options tied to their Samsung account are up-to-date. It's a set-it-and-forget-it insurance. Similarly, I found that a couple of minutes I spent running through the Samsung Account Audit were pretty useful for me. This One UI feature shows me which devices are signed in to my account, any recent security activity, and whether or not my recovery details are still sound and accessible. Auto Blocker shuts the door on sketchy apps A setting I enabled on my mom's phone immediately, too One UI's Auto Blocker is a feature I ignored for months, since the name sounded a little too intrusive at first glance. In reality, though, it's a common-sense security toggle that stops apps from being installed from any unauthorized sources that aren't the Google Play Store and the Galaxy Store. It works best when it's making it impossible for malware to be delivered through WhatsApp messages, Telegram chats, and websites that try to sideload shady apps on Android phones. There's genuinely been zero downside to leaving it enabled so far, simply because I haven't yet gotten into sideloading on my new Android phone. The moment I learned what it actually did, I picked up my mom's Galaxy S24 FE and enabled Auto Blocker there as well. She's far more likely to receive forwarded messages and "helpful" links than I am, making the feature even more valuable on her phone than mine. Head into Settings → Security and privacy → Auto Blocker, and flip it on. It's a two-second change and stays out of your way the entire time. When you do end up running into a malicious APK, though, you'll definitely appreciate its protection. Until that moment, though, the peace of mind alone is worth enabling this privacy setting in One UI. The privacy dashboard makes permission tracking effortless A feature that taught me something about Android and iPhone The Privacy Dashboard is one of those One UI features that doesn't actively protect my phone, but it did make me far more aware of what is happening behind the scenes. It gives me a clear timeline of exactly when each app last accessed sensitive permissions on my phone like the camera, microphone, location, contacts, and more. This makes it incredibly easy to spot any unusual, out-of-place behavior. Instead of blindly trusting every app I've installed, I can use the Privacy Dashboard to verify who's been using what, and when. I found it so useful that I immediately wondered whether the iPhone had something similar. It turns out Apple does, and discovering that was a pleasant surprise, too. I went looking for a Samsung privacy feature, and ended up learning something new about both ecosystems. Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Brand Samsung RAM 8GB Storage 128GB Operating System Android Colors White, Jet Black, Navy, Icy Blue The Galaxy S25 FE offers a lot of the benefits of the S25 flagship line at a fraction of the cost. Small changes, lasting peace of mind One UI seems to have hidden a lot of its uniquely useful features behind menus that I might not have thought to explore if I didn't have spare time on my hands. That's a shame, too, since a few minutes of setup fundamentally changed how confident I felt using my phone every day. Privacy extends far beyond stopping hackers and locking files away, and it certainly covers having more control over the device in my hand every day for hours at a time. These One UI privacy settings have definitely earned their place on my Galaxy S25 FE. I may have spent just ten minutes changing them, but they've genuinely improved the ownership experience in ways that I can appreciate and feel.