Samsung’s One UI 9 Beta 2 removes the manual Lockdown Mode button from the power menu and makes Lockdown activate automatically the moment you open (and dismiss) that menu—disabling fingerprint and face unlock and requiring a PIN, pattern, or password.
There’s a moment people don’t plan for. Someone grabs your phone, or you realize you’re being pressured to unlock it—fast. For years, Samsung gave Galaxy owners a “lockdown mode” tucked inside the power menu, meant to shut off biometric access and force a PIN entry instead.
In One UI 9 Beta 2, that option is changing in a way that removes the hardest part of using it: finding the right button under stress.
Samsung Galaxy phones have had a lockdown mode for years. It’s a manual option inside the power menu that disables fingerprint and face unlock and forces a PIN entry. It was designed for situations where someone might force you to unlock your phone using your face or finger. The problem. as many users found out the hard way. was that most people either didn’t know it existed or never used it.
One UI 9 Beta 2—based on Android 17—changes how that lockdown mode works. First, the dedicated lockdown button is removed from the power menu altogether. In its place, you’ll see medical info, plus a more contextually useful option for first responders in an emergency.
But the important part is what happens next. Lockdown hasn’t been removed. It has simply become automatic.
In One UI 9 Beta 2, the moment you open the power menu and dismiss it, One UI 9 activates lockdown. The phone locks, fingerprint recognition and face unlock are disabled, and the only way to unlock it is to enter the PIN, pattern, or password.
For people who relied on the older version, the shift is dramatic. The previous approach required you to think, locate the right lockdown control inside a stressful, fast-moving moment, and press it before handing your phone over—or worse, before it gets taken from you.
The new behavior removes that extra step. Opening the power menu is already a natural reflex when something feels off. and reaching for the side button is instinctive. Samsung has essentially turned that reflex into the security action it was meant to be. without asking you to remember an emergency feature buried in the menu.
For now, this change is live in One UI 9 Beta 2. It has not been confirmed for the stable release. Because Samsung has not officially announced the shift, the automatic lockdown behavior could still be modified before One UI 9 reaches the public.
Samsung One UI 9 Android 17 Lockdown Mode fingerprint unlock face unlock power menu cybersecurity smartphones