The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s privacy display could be the biggest upgrade in a while – here’s how it works

• Samsung has unveiled a privacy-protecting display feature for Galaxy phones
• This will let you hide certain types of content from anyone who isn't viewing the screen front-on
• The company is also rumored to be giving the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra's screen a 10-bit upgrade

While Samsung continues to be the biggest Android brand in the business, it could be argued that its flagship Galaxy S line has been a bit light on new features and significant upgrades in recent years. But that could at least somewhat change with the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, as Samsung has unveiled a new feature that it claims is coming to Galaxy phones very soon.

This is essentially the privacy display feature that has been rumored for a while, and while Samsung hasn’t called it that – or given it any specific name – in the announcement, the company has somewhat detailed how this “new front line for privacy” works.

It’s a feature that requires you to be viewing your screen front-on to see what’s on it, thereby reducing what snoopers can see. But in fact, it’s smarter than that, as you can customize it to only hide certain display elements, such as sensitive notifications.

Samsung hasn’t said exactly how you can customize it but has said it can be fine-tuned, so it’s easy to imagine you could toggle it just for certain apps or certain types of notifications.

You can see an example of how it will reportedly look in images shared by leaker @UniverseIce, with a notification completely blanked out when viewed from an angle. This should make the feature far more powerful than a simple privacy screen protector, which blocks off the whole screen at all times when viewed at an angle, and can also lead to the display looking washed out.

According to them, it works by letting the phone control the direction that light is emitted from individual OLED pixels, so that it only shines towards people directly facing elements that you want to hide, though this detail hasn't been confirmed by Samsung itself.

It could be an Ultra exclusive

So this should be a major upgrade for anyone who values their privacy, but it’s still a bit unclear which phones it will actually come to.

Samsung has said “it’s coming to Galaxy very soon” and previous leaks suggested this was a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra feature, so we’re almost certain it will come to that handset, but there’s a chance it could come to other phones in the Samsung Galaxy S26 line as well.

Older handsets are probably out of luck – while this is at least partially a software feature, it seems likely that there are specific hardware requirements too, especially as Samsung’s announcement describes it as “a fusion of hardware and software”, so it’s unlikely this could arrive as a simple software update, but we can’t completely rule it out.

Either way, for the phones that get it, this could be a major differentiating feature – helping Samsung’s handsets stand out from rival Android phones and even iPhones.

And this isn’t the only display upgrade the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra might get either, as @UniverseIce has also said to expect a 10-bit screen.

This would be an upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 8-bit screen, and would likely allow for richer, more accurate colors, and improved HDR. So it sounds like display upgrades could be the big focus this year.

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