Samsung might let you download Secure Folder with Nougat

Remember Secure Folder from the Galaxy Note 7? It essentially let you store various files in a protected folder. Well, according to Samsung, the company is considering adding it as a downloadable feature with the Galaxy S7 Nougat update.

If you owned the Galaxy Note 7 – may it rest in peace – then you might remember something called Secure Folder. Samsung showcased it as one of the device’s main selling points, and you could save documents, images, videos, and others in a fingerprint or iris protected folder. It was a nifty addition which eliminated the need to download a third-party app to lock certain apps for security reasons.

Well, it looks like the South Korean company may be considering bringing the feature to Galaxy S7 devices with the highly anticipated Nougat update. A Galaxy S7 user, under the Galaxy Beta program, requested that Samsung add Secure Folder with the upcoming Android 7.1.1 update, and Samsung’s reply suggests it could very well happen:

We will consider to support Secure Folder for the OS upgrade device (Nougat) as a downloadable service. It will be available in Galaxy Apps later on. Please note that the exact available time has not [been] decided yet.

So Secure Folder is most likely to function not too differently from other Samsung apps like Samsung Pay where users can access it through Samsung’s app store and get updates through the company directly. For obvious reasons, on the Galaxy S7, the folder will only be accessible via your fingerprint and not through iris recognition.

Right now, it’s unclear whether Secure Folder will come with every Nougat update, even on midrange and low-end devices (that is, if Samsung does decide to offer it). But I for one would love to see this on my Galaxy S7 – it makes for a much more reliable way to protect your information.

Would you want to see this on your Samsung device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!