Samsung’s One UI 9 update now requires biometric or PIN authentication before a user — or thief — can power off the device.
The change closes a well-known vulnerability: a snatch-and-grab thief could previously power down a stolen Samsung phone within seconds, cutting off GPS tracking and rendering remote-wipe tools useless before the owner could act.
How the lock works
Under One UI 9, accessing the power-off menu on a locked Samsung device triggers an authentication prompt. Without a fingerprint, face scan, or correct PIN, the phone stays on.
That keeps it visible to Samsung’s Find My Mobile service and to Google’s Find My Device network, both of which require an active connection to locate or remotely erase a handset.
Why it matters
Phone theft remains a persistent urban crime problem. The Office for National Statistics reported that mobile phone theft in England and Wales rose sharply in recent years, with London accounting for a disproportionate share of cases.
Law enforcement agencies have long pointed to the power-button workaround as one reason stolen smartphones disappear from tracking systems so quickly after a snatch. A device that stays powered on gives owners and police a longer window to locate it.
Samsung did not issue a dedicated press release for the feature. It arrived as part of the broader One UI 9 rollout, which is based on Android 15 and began reaching Galaxy S series devices in early 2025.
Industry context
Apple introduced a comparable control with iOS 17.3 in January 2024. Its Stolen Device Protection feature, when enabled, requires Face ID or Touch ID — with no PIN fallback — to access sensitive settings when the phone detects it is Away From a familiar location.
Google has built similar protections into Android 10 and later through its Theft Protection suite, which uses on-device machine learning to detect motion patterns consistent with a snatch and can lock the screen automatically.
Samsung’s implementation follows that same logic but applies it specifically to the power-off function, a gap that neither stock Android nor earlier One UI versions addressed in the same direct way.
One UI 9 also ships with other security updates tied to Android 15, including improved permission controls for apps requesting access to photos, files, and location data.
Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series launched with One UI 7 — not One UI 9, which had not shipped at the time of publication — meaning the rollout timeline for older devices remains subject to Samsung’s standard update schedule, which varies by model and region.
