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UPDATE 01/30 03:42 PM ET: Upon further review, the source was determined to be unreliable and multiple claims couldn’t be independently verified, with some found to be inaccurate. As it stands, there’s currently no evidence that Samsung is remotely disabling devices or using KnoxGuard in response to leaked internal builds. Samsung did not respond to our request for comment.
You may have noticed that Samsung’s more recent One UI updates have been leaking earlier than usual. You might have also seen posts about One UI 8.5 being installed months before release. In fact, you could even be running it on your device right now. Samsung probably knows that internal builds of their new releases are leaking. As a result, they’re now cracking down, potentially bricking devices along the way.
Samsung cracks down on distribution of internal One UI builds
We received a tip about a Telegram group that had been distributing early One UI builds. According to the source, that activity later had consequences.
The owner of this group, who we’ll call Dave, says he received an email from Samsung’s legal team. The message was a takedown notice requesting that the group must be shut down and that distribution of internal OTA files stop. Dave says he complied immediately, and that Samsung’s legal team thanked him for doing so.
Shortly afterward, Dave says his Galaxy A56 was rendered unusable. The device had been running an internal build of One UI 8.5 and now appears to be locked via KnoxGuard. For those unaware, KnoxGuard is a system Samsung uses to disable stolen phones or devices that have not been paid off. In this state, the phone is effectively unusable and blocks common recovery methods, including Download Mode.
Editor’s Note: We’ve reached out to Samsung for an official statement and will update the story accordingly.
What this means for Internal Build users?
Our best advice to anyone currently running an internal One UI build is to downgrade to the latest stable release. It looks like Samsung can collect telemetry on any Galaxy device, including those running unauthorized firmware. In addition, the company has shown that it can identify and remotely disable devices running internal software.
This story echoes other reports, such as OnePlus bricking devices when attempting to downgrade firmware, or Samsung previously locking down the bootloader across Galaxy devices. Dave’s Galaxy A56 may still be recoverable through a Samsung service centre, but the precedent has been set.