Samsung’s AltZLife will give its smartphones a privacy level-up

Available on the Samsung Galaxy A71 and the Galaxy A51 for now, the AltZLife feature is rolling out through a software update now.

With AltZLife, Samsung smartphone users can now switch quickly between a normal mode and a private mode by just double clicking on the power key. (Samsung)

Samsung has launched AltZLife, a feature that will help enhance the level of your smartphone's privacy. With users now spending most of their time on their smartphones for work and entertainment, a better privacy mode will help keep work and play separate and protected.

With AltZLife, Samsung smartphone users can now switch quickly between a normal mode and a private mode by just double clicking on the power key. The on-device AI function also suggests when you should move private content to a secure folder.

The AltZLife feature will be available to existing users and new users of the Galaxy A71 and Galaxy A51 through a software update and is rolling out now. 

According to research conducted by Samsung, 79% of Gen Z users admit they have content such as images, applications and private chats on their smartphones that they do not want family or others to see.

AltZLife comes with two main features - Quick Switch and Content Suggestions. It has been built by a team of young engineers at Samsung R&D Institutes in Bangalore and Noida using insights from consumer research.

The on-device AI solution allows all processing to take place within the device and does not require interaction with any server or cloud.

Quick Switch helps users switch between two instances of the same app instantly - one instance in normal mode and the other in private mode. For example, a consumer can easily move between the normal Gallery and a private Gallery, or from a normal WhatsApp to a private WhatsApp by just double-clicking on the power button. The private versions of these apps are secured by Samsung Knox in the Secure Folder of Galaxy smartphones. 

When a user double clicks on the power button in normal mode, authentication is going to be needed before entering the private mode of the same app. This authentication is different from the normal unlocking of the smartphone. When a user switches from private to normal mode, no authentication is required. Quick Switch is useful even if the application does not have dual instances in Private and Normal mode.

Content Suggestions is an AI-based app inside the Secure Folder. In this, the on-device AI-powered engine automatically suggests users move private images of pre-selected categories to the Secure Folder. In this case, users have to simply select specific faces or a type of image they want to tag as private and keep them secured in the private gallery of the Secure Folder.

Once the initial setup is complete, the AI engine kicks in and identifies relevant images from the entire gallery. As this is an on-device AI solution, so no information or image ever leaves the smartphone.