Samsung Might Finally Bring App Lock in One UI 9 (Android 17)

Do you find it inconvenient to use Secure Folder on your Galaxy device just to lock a single app? Well, there’s some good news. Samsung’s Android 17-based One UI 9 may finally introduce a native App Lock feature for users. This development has been spotted in Android Canary 2512 build.

Android phones could get a native App Lock feature

Samsung’s Secure Folder lets users protect apps, photos, and files with Knox security, but it works as a completely separate space on the device. While this setup is ideal for privacy, it can feel slow and inconvenient if you simply want a fingerprint lock on your regular apps. On top of that, you probably don’t want to switch into another environment every time you open a protected app.

That’s why a native App Lock is a much-needed feature that will let users secure individual apps. Now, it looks like this ability may finally become a reality. While digging through the Android Canary 2512 build, folks over at Android Authority discovered the App Lock API within the Android framework package. There’s even a new permission, LOCK_APPS, that controls access to this API.

The publication further said that during the app lock process, the user will see a prompt “Lock [App Name]?”. Likewise, when unlocking an app, the prompt will change to “Remove App Lock from [App Name]?” As of now, Google has disabled the feature in the Canary build, meaning it isn’t functional yet. This suggests App Lock is still in early development and may not arrive until next year’s Android 17.

For Samsung, this paves the way to bring a native App Lock to Galaxy users in One UI 9. It is worth mentioning that Samsung seems to have already been testing this solution with One UI 8.5, likely for the Chinese users. This lets users lock individual apps using a PIN, password, fingerprint, or facial recognition. Now that Android 17 may gain a system-level App Lock API, Samsung could adopt this feature globally.