3 Minutes
Samsung is refining its Gallery experience in One UI 8.5 with a long-requested Private Album feature that lets users hide photos and videos directly inside the native app without relying on Secure Folder.
What the Private Album brings to the Gallery
Until now, Samsung users who wanted to keep images or videos out of sight had to move them into Secure Folder, which creates a separate, locked environment. That workaround works, but it can be clumsy: content must be moved in and out of the folder whenever you want to edit, share, or view files outside the sandbox.
The leaked One UI 8.5 build shows a new Private Album option inside the Gallery app itself. This experimental toggle will let users mark albums or individual files as private, hiding them from the main view and locking them behind device authentication. The change aims to streamline privacy controls while keeping sensitive media more accessible when needed.
Why this matters for privacy and usability
Integrating the Private Album into the Gallery improves usability by reducing steps for everyday tasks while maintaining protection for private content. It also aligns with user expectations for built-in privacy: not everyone wants to use a separate app or folder just to hide a few photos.
Samsung had tested a similar option in One UI 8.0 through the Gallery's hidden Labs menu, but the feature did not make the public release. Seeing it return in One UI 8.5 suggests the company is ready to offer the functionality to all users, not just those who dig into experimental settings.
Conclusion
Private Album in One UI 8.5 is a practical step toward smarter privacy in Samsung's Gallery app. By making it easier to hide and protect media without Secure Folder, Samsung could improve day-to-day convenience for many Galaxy users. Keep an eye out for wider rollouts as One UI 8.5 reaches more devices.
Source: sammobile
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