Samsung's 'repair mode' lets techs look at your phone, not your data
Samsung's 'repair mode' lets techs look at your phone, not your data
Zoom / A smartphone is being repaired.
Getty Images / krisanapong detraphiphat
Samsung is introducing an exciting new feature for people sending their Galaxy phone in for repair: "Repair Mode". When shipping your phone, you might want to do something to protect your data, and the new feature seems like a great solution. It locks your data, but not your phone.
Data management during a mail-in repair process is difficult. You can wipe your phone, but that's a big deal. You don't want to just ship a device that's completely locked down, because techs can't test it thoroughly if it's locked out of everything. In repair mode, technicians can still rummage through your device and test everything, but they'll only see default apps with blank data. When you get your device back, you can authenticate again and turn off repair mode and you'll get all your data back.
The feature was first spotted by SamMobile, and Samsung has so far only announced the feature in a Korean press release; it's first launched in Korea for the Galaxy S21 (the S22 is Samsung's latest flagship phone). Repair mode can be activated from the settings menu, and Samsung says (via Google Translate), "You won't be able to access your personal data, such as photos, messages, and accounts", and anyone with the phone "only use the applications installed by default." Repair mode can be exited the same way, although you must authenticate with a pattern, pin, or fingerprint.
Samsung doesn't explain how the feature works, but Android has a number of built-in features that would make it relatively easy to implement such a feature. Android supports multiple user accounts, allowing for multiple distinct sets of apps and data. It wouldn't take much to lock down the main user and create a "guest" user with no data for the repairmen to work with. It is also possible that Samsung locks the entire user data partition. Repair technicians could obtain a temporary data store and access the read-only system partition, which contains all the operating system files you would need for testing.
However, the feature works, it's a great idea, and something we'd love to see other manufacturers implement. For now, Repair Mode is only available on one device model and only in Korea, but Samsung says it will be rolled out more widely in the future.
Zoom / A smartphone is being repaired.
Getty Images / krisanapong detraphiphat
Samsung is introducing an exciting new feature for people sending their Galaxy phone in for repair: "Repair Mode". When shipping your phone, you might want to do something to protect your data, and the new feature seems like a great solution. It locks your data, but not your phone.
Data management during a mail-in repair process is difficult. You can wipe your phone, but that's a big deal. You don't want to just ship a device that's completely locked down, because techs can't test it thoroughly if it's locked out of everything. In repair mode, technicians can still rummage through your device and test everything, but they'll only see default apps with blank data. When you get your device back, you can authenticate again and turn off repair mode and you'll get all your data back.
The feature was first spotted by SamMobile, and Samsung has so far only announced the feature in a Korean press release; it's first launched in Korea for the Galaxy S21 (the S22 is Samsung's latest flagship phone). Repair mode can be activated from the settings menu, and Samsung says (via Google Translate), "You won't be able to access your personal data, such as photos, messages, and accounts", and anyone with the phone "only use the applications installed by default." Repair mode can be exited the same way, although you must authenticate with a pattern, pin, or fingerprint.
Samsung doesn't explain how the feature works, but Android has a number of built-in features that would make it relatively easy to implement such a feature. Android supports multiple user accounts, allowing for multiple distinct sets of apps and data. It wouldn't take much to lock down the main user and create a "guest" user with no data for the repairmen to work with. It is also possible that Samsung locks the entire user data partition. Repair technicians could obtain a temporary data store and access the read-only system partition, which contains all the operating system files you would need for testing.
However, the feature works, it's a great idea, and something we'd love to see other manufacturers implement. For now, Repair Mode is only available on one device model and only in Korea, but Samsung says it will be rolled out more widely in the future.
Zoom / A smartphone is being repaired.
Getty Images / krisanapong detraphiphat
