What you need to know
- Samsung seems to be incorporating a crash detection virtual sensor on the upcoming Galaxy S25 series.
- While similar or identical sensors have been seen on previous Samsung devices, the company has not yet implemented a feature utilizing them.
- It is still uncertain whether Samsung intends to introduce a car crash detection feature on the Galaxy S25 series or with One UI 7.
Samsung may be catching up to Apple and Google by including a crucial safety feature on the upcoming Galaxy S25 series. Leaked code strings from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra suggest that the company will once again have a virtual car crash sensor. It should be noted that although past Galaxy phones have had a similar or identical sensor, Samsung has not released a car crash detection feature yet.
The leaked files mention a Car Crash Detect Wakeup sensor, which is a Galaxy S25 sensor with the same name as ones previously found on the Galaxy S24 series and select Samsung foldables. This sensor is not a single hardware sensor in the traditional sense. Instead, it is a virtual sensor that gathers data from multiple hardware sensors to detect when a car crash occurs.
By continually including the Car Crash Detect Wakeup sensor, it appears that Samsung is still working on bringing a car crash detection feature to Galaxy phones. The company is evidently lagging behind. Google introduced a car crash detection feature to Pixel phones in 2019, and Apple followed suit in 2022.
However, as noted by Android Authority, this does not guarantee that a functioning feature will be available on the Galaxy S25 series. There have been code strings and hidden system apps hinting at car crash detection as early as 2023, but a public and working feature has not been released yet. Sometimes, these safety features are region-locked, but there is no evidence of car crash detection being available on Samsung devices in any region.
The positive news is that, in theory, the inclusion of the virtual sensor in the Galaxy S25 series codebase means that Samsung’s upcoming flagships will receive car crash detection when it becomes available as part of One UI. At the moment, it is not available in One UI 7.