Samsung’s new Repair Mode wants to stop service techs from rummaging through your digital property
Leaving your phone at the service center, even one officially authorized by the manufacturer, has the potential to be a real nightmarish experience. Will the data on your phone be safe from prying eyes? Or can you even expect to get it backwith all data intact? Companies like iFixit,Apple, andGoogleare all helping out with the option for you torepair your devices yourself, but Samsung seems to have a simpler solution in the form of its new Repair Mode feature.
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You’ll be able to activate Repair Mode under the Battery and Device Care menu in the Settings app (viaSamMobile). Once enabled, the phone will reboot and the service technician’s access will be limited to default apps. After the repair is complete, you can regain access to your data by rebooting the device and unlocking it. When you deactivate Repair Mode, all device settings will be returned to their pre-activation state, and any files needed during the repair process will be removed.
Samsung’s initially making Repair Mode available on theGalaxy S21series through a software update, with plans to bring it to other models in due course. We still have plenty of questions about how all this will work, including details on the release timeline and which devices will be supported. It also seems obvious that not all manner of repairs would support this mode — it’s hard to see how this could possibly survive a full mainboard swap, and maybe even some firmware updates.
While it is great to see brands taking initiative to protect customer data, we strongly suggest youback up all your important filesanyway before handing your phone over to the technicians — better safe than sorry!
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