The new Privacy Screen feature on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra makes it much harder for people to spy on your phone. In fact, from other angles, the eyes of the eyes will be able to see is a blank screen. More interestingly, Samsung has designed the Privacy Screen in such a way as to block some parts of your screen but not others. That means it can turn off notifications from the sidebar, without turning off the entire screen.
That being said, there have been several complaints from S26 Ultra owners that the Privacy Display feature causes headaches and eye strain. However, I found it to be one of the best features of Samsung’s new phone.
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How to set up a Privacy Screen on Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
1. Open the Display menu
Open the Settings menu on your Galaxy S26 Ultra, then tap on Show part
2. Turn on the Privacy Screen
Tap on Secret Show part, and then Turn on Privacy Display
Alternatively, you can turn on the Privacy Display by tapping the button toggle on the right side of the screen. However, this is best used if you have configured the settings to your liking.
3. (Optional) Toggle on Maximum Privacy Privacy Protection
There is also an additional option called High privacy protectionwhich can be opened by tap the relevant toggle.
This screen also gives you the option to increase the level of privacy provided by the Privacy Screen. Default encryption doesn’t darken everything from the sides, and some details can still be seen. Advanced privacy protection turns everything up to 11, and ensures that no information is leaked to potential users.
4. (Optional) Set the settings to turn on Privacy Display
You don’t need to keep Privacy Display on all the time. Using the Opening conditions menu, you can tell the Privacy Screen to alert itself when certain things happen on your phone.
You have two direct options here, which is whenever a PIN, pattern or password appears on the screen, and when Notifications stand out. Hit the Translate for any option to turn them on.
Tools is its own sub-menu, and tapping on it will bring you to a screen of all the apps that Privacy Screen can work with. Just tap toggle for any apps where you want to improve your privacy.
How it makes sense to use the Privacy Policy
One thing you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is that the display is not as bright as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Our lab testing shows that it’s a very small difference, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re planning to pick up a Galaxy S26 Ultra for yourself.
It’s also important to remember that having a Privacy Display allows for a clear screen brightness. You don’t need to test that in a lab to see the change.
For that reason alone, I tend to use the privacy display with settings, rather than having it on all the time. That way, you only get that glow when the privacy filter turns itself on. Again, that depends on the motivations to change the privacy filter when it shouldn’t.
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I’ve also noticed that the contextual triggers don’t work correctly in my time with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The phone knows how to block the sample screen when I unlock the phone, but it doesn’t seem to grant the same access to apps and websites.
Likewise, I haven’t seen it block any notifications, and I’ve noticed that the screen brightness can interfere with how many things are blocked. With the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s brightness turned up to max, I was still able to make out some details when looking at the screen from side to side – even with advanced privacy protection enabled.
The Secret Show isn’t perfect in its implementation, but the concept of the process still makes good sense. We have a lot of sensitive information on our phones, and the last thing we want is for someone to be able to sneak into it. Any extra protection you can have on your phone will only be good, and the fact that you can turn it off instantly makes the pot sweeter.
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