Samsung Galaxy S10 Android 10 Beta Stings Testers With Crippling Lockout Bug
Uh oh, Samsung, we have a problem. Apparently there is an issue with the Android 10 One UI 2.0 beta that Samsung recently made available to Galaxy S10 owners—it's reported the beta OS ends up locking people out of their handsets, and in some cases, forcing them to perform a factory reset to rectify the situation.
The Android 10 One UI 2.0 beta has slowly been finding its way to Samsung's phones. Galaxy S10 owners got first crack at the beta, followed by Galaxy Note users. As is always the case when it comes to beta software, bugs can arise, even showstopping ones, unfortunately.
According to SamMobile, the wonky update manifests when the Galaxy S10 is restarted, at which point it refuses to accept the PIN, password, or pattern that a user has configured. One possible workaround is to use the Remote unlock feature—this allows users to tap into Samsung's Find My Mobile service and subsequently delete any existing password, PIN, pattern, fingerprint, and/or facial recognition scheme.
This is not an ideal solution, though. Since the buggy update locks users out of their phones when a password is configured, setting up a new one results in the same problem popping back up, the next time the phone is restarted.
It's even worse for users who have not already enabled the Remote unlock feature. In such cases, a factory reset and flashing back to Android 9 Pie (via Samsung Smart Switch) is the only known recourse at the moment. Even then, it's reported some users are still unable to create a PIN, password, or pattern after reverting back.
Samsung has not acknowledged the issue as of this writing, and it's unclear how it might fix the problem. A software update seems inevitable, but even then, the handset needs to be unlocked in order to apply it. That likely means some users will have no other option but to perform a factory reset.
In the meantime, Galaxy S10 owners who are running the Android 10 One UI 2.0 beta should change the lock screen security to swipe, or disable it altogether, until a new update arrives. Just be careful to keep your phone close to you at all times.
