Samsung One UI 9 adds permanent lockout after 13 failed PIN attempts
Samsung’s One UI 9, built on Android 17, introduces a stricter lock‑screen policy for Galaxy smartphones. The new system reduces the number of allowed incorrect unlock attempts to 13; after the thirteenth failed PIN, password or pattern entry the device is permanently locked and can only be used again after a factory reset. Temporary lockouts begin at the fifth wrong entry, with waiting periods that increase from one minute to five, fifteen, thirty, ninety minutes, four, twelve and finally twenty‑four hours after the tenth, eleventh and twelfth attempts.
The policy applies to devices that ship with One UI 9 pre‑installed, such as the newly released Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8. Samsung says the change is designed to thwart brute‑force attacks, and it counts repeated entry of the same incorrect credential as only one failed attempt.
At the same time, Samsung is expanding the One UI 9 beta program beyond the Galaxy S26, with internal builds for the Galaxy S25 Ultra spotted on Korean servers and a planned rollout to older models, including the S25 series and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7. A leaked timeline suggests early‑August pre‑installation on new foldables, followed by a stable rollout for the S26 and S25 series in late August–September, with older flagships slated for later in 2026. The broader Android 17 platform was made stable on 16 June 2026 for Google Pixel devices, with other manufacturers to follow in the coming months.
Entities: Android 17 · Galaxy S26 · Galaxy Z Fold 8 · One UI 9.0 · Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 7 SOURCES] Repeated entry of the same incorrect PIN, password or pattern counts as only one failed attempt. (Samsung)
- [● 7 SOURCES] One UI 9 limits the number of failed unlock attempts to 13; after the 13th incorrect PIN, password or pattern the device is permanently locked and requires a factory reset to be used again. (Samsung)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] An alleged Samsung rollout timeline says early August 2026 for pre‑installed devices, late August–September for stable One UI 9 on the Galaxy S26 and S25 series, and later 2026 for older flagships and (Unverified leak)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Samsung opened the One UI 9 beta program to the Galaxy S26 and spotted an internal build for the Galaxy S25 Ultra on Korean servers. (Samsung)
- [● 2 SOURCES] One UI 9 was pre‑installed on the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8 models at launch in early August 2026. (Samsung)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The new lockout policy applies to devices that ship with One UI 9 pre‑installed, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8. (Samsung)
- [● 7 SOURCES] The lockout periods increase after each failed attempt: 1 minute after the 5th, 5 minutes after the 6th, 15 minutes after the 7th, 30 minutes after the 8th, 90 minutes after the 9th, 4 hours after the (Samsung)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Android 17 was released as a stable build on 16 June 2026 for Google Pixel devices, with other manufacturers set to roll it out in subsequent months. (Google)