Samsung phones in one major market will get a ton of system utilities

Samsung phones in global markets have the Device Care menu, which is a one-stop hub for maintaining your phone. However, Chinese users have the Smart Manager app, and it will receive some new features as part of the upcoming One UI 8.5 update.

GalaxyTechie on Twitter (h/t: SammyGuru) spotted these Smart Manager additions and highlighted them. Some of the most notable new features include native app lock functionality, app state restoration, and sleep standby optimization.

Native app lock functionality (seen in the first two screenshots below) is a great alternative to the current app lock solution on Galaxy phones. Samsung owners in global markets have to add their apps to Secure Folder if they want to lock them. However, Secure Folder effectively creates a cloned version of the app, while another instance of the app remains visible and accessible in the main app drawer unless you hide it. By contrast, the Smart Manager app lets you lock and unlock apps directly on the home screen using a pattern/PIN/password or biometrics. One of the screenshots also suggests that you can lock entire folders on the home screen.

Meanwhile, app state restoration (see the third screenshot above) lets you restore your app to its previous state before a crash or freeze. It’s unclear how this will work, while Samsung’s fine print cautions that it might not work for all apps. Nevertheless, I hope this means the app will save your work-in-progress message or keep your place in your social media home feed.

The Smart Manager app also offers a sleep standby optimization feature, which lets you squeeze more battery life out of your phone by limiting performance while you sleep. These optimizations can kick in based on your sleep patterns or according to a set time period each day.

These aren’t the only tweaks and additions spotted by GalaxyTechie. The app also has a new storage management menu, a background control page for tweaking how apps run in the background, and a keep apps active toggle that lets you tweak when specific apps can run in the background. Toss in a privacy lockdown option and live notification/Now Bar support, and it’s a pretty significant upgrade for Galaxy owners in China.

The tipster notes that only users with rooted Galaxy devices can install the Smart Manager app. So I really hope these features and tweaks are ported to the Device Care menu on global phones.