Samsung’s New S26 ‘Privacy Display’ Will Make Third-Party Privacy Screens Obsolete

I have a bad habit, and probably you do too: when someone opens their phone near me, I instinctively look. I don’t look for anything intentionally — my eyes look unintentionally, hovering for a moment before returning someone’s privacy — but I’ve seen everything from innocuous wallpapers and lock codes to bank statements and text messages during relationship conflicts.

I’m not a nosy person nor am I too concerned about my own privacy when it becomes too inconvenient. But the most common form of privacy invasion is probably the simplest: peeking into someone’s phone screen or someone peeking into yours.

Years ago, I protected my privacy with privacy screens on my laptop and phone, but I let go of that practice so much that I almost forgot the existence of privacy screens. Today at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, the company introduced the privacy screen I’ve wanted all along.

This is the transition angle where visibility begins to fade.
Credit: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked / Lifehacker

Samsung’s new privacy screen can reduce the pixel light on your phone’s screen so that it is only visible to you. The feature can be turned on and off, and it’s also customizable per app, allowing some apps to be visible to others while keeping sensitive apps, like your banking app or an HBO show, invisible to passersby. When the Privacy View feature is off, the pixels are visible from all angles, but when it’s on, the pixel lights narrow toward you. Essentially, you can control when you want people to view your phone over your shoulder, which is probably rare compared to when you prefer your phone to be protected from side angles. The privacy screen will be available on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, but the feature is so useful that it was Galaxy Unpacked’s most interesting announcement, and once competitors catch on, I expect a built-in privacy screen to become standard in smartphones. It doesn’t take much to imagine that third-party privacy screens will soon become obsolete.

This is the side angle where others can no longer see the screen.
Credit: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked / Lifehacker

After expensive device upgrades and purchasing a long list of accessories, adding a privacy screen protector may seem like a waste of money. To save a few dollars, I just tell myself that I will be more aware of my surroundings. Yet just yesterday, on the subway, I noticed someone’s innocuous Shadow the Hedgehog screensaver, followed by its private and potentially embarrassing app notifications. In reality, others have probably also viewed the same type of information on my phone, no matter how “aware of my surroundings” I hope to be.

So far, the new privacy screen appears to be available only on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, which will have a starting price of $1,299. Hopefully this feature will be adopted more widely, including on the cheaper S26, which will start at $899, and the S26+, which will start at $1,099. I’m not sure why phone makers took so long to create such a useful tool, but I guess it comes down to focusing on clumsily forcing AI into features I’ll rarely use. Samsung Unpacked has made plenty of clunky AI announcements (you should check out the longer list of those), but the simple utility of the Privacy Display stole the show. And better late than never.