One UI 9 (Android 17) App Lock Might Hide Notification Content

Last month, we learned that Google may bring a native App Lock feature with Android 17. Now, a new development has come to light, revealing more details about how this feature could handle notifications. App Lock may hide message previews and notification content from locked apps. We might see this capability on Samsung Galaxy devices with the upcoming Android 17-based One UI 9.

App Lock could protect notifications on Android phones

While Samsung’s Secure Folder protects apps, photos, and files, it works as a separate space on the device. That means you need to add an app to Secure Folder to lock it, which can be inconvenient if you simply want to unlock an app using a PIN, password, or fingerprint. Thankfully, Google appears to be working on a native App Lock that could solve this problem by allowing users to lock apps directly on their phone.

Now, while digging through the Android Canary 2601 release, folks over at Android Authority discovered new strings related to App Lock notifications. They suggest that locked apps will send notifications, but the system will keep their content hidden. In messaging apps, you might see a “New message” alert instead of the message preview. Likewise, for other apps, the notification may simply say “New notification” without displaying the content.

This will help prevent sensitive information from showing up on the lock screen or notification shade for locked apps. However, it is still unclear whether the app name or icon will be visible in these notifications. The outlet expects the system to show the app name and icon so users can easily identify which app received the notification.

Note that this native App Lock feature is still in early development, and Google has not officially confirmed for Android 17 yet. If Google does move forward with this feature, Samsung might bring it to One UI 9, expected to debut in mid to late 2026.