Lately, more and more often you hear stories about hackers selling users’ personal information in bulk on forums. After such news, many people are afraid to give their mobile devices for repair. Yes, you can wipe your phone yourself, but then you will have to go through the hassle of restoring it. Fortunately, Samsung recently introduced a solution to this problem in the form of a new feature called “Repair Mode”.
The new mode can be activated under “Battery and Device Care” in Settings, according to a Korean report first seen by SamMobile. Samsung didn’t explain the technology behind the feature, but when activated, it will hide your personal information, photos, messages, and linked accounts.
A specialist will see only the device’s pre-installed apps. You simply need to disable Repair Mode and use pattern or fingerprint recognition to confirm your identity to regain access to your data.
Since Samsung hasn’t yet announced this feature outside of Korea, it’s probably safe to say that it’s currently only available in the company’s home country. Furthermore, for now, it is only available on the Galaxy S21 series phones. However, the company says that in the future it will extend the Repair Mode to other models and hopefully to other regions.
