I didn’t get a high-resolution phone to nerf its brightness. The universe, however, has a dramatic habit of providing exactly what I need at the right time. My Infinix GT 50 Pro came right on time with tools I enabled to protect my privacy without affecting my everyday experience. These two are among my favorites.
Snoopers get nothing but shade
I’m tired of wandering eyes and over-the-shoulder readers
Peek Proof is a screen shade feature on Infinix’s XOS. It launched with XOS 7.6 based on Android 11 in 2021, although the version I ran into on XOS 16 (Android 16) is much more refined. The older concept compresses what you’re viewing into a narrow visible strip, while the rest of the screen turns dark or blacked out.
You could only expand it up or down and drag visible arrows left and right to adjust opacity. The improved version overlays a small resizable square you can drag anywhere around the screen. You can even shrink it down to the size of an app icon.
The opacity button is now a teardrop icon in the square’s upper left corner. Tap it to reveal an adjustable meter that shifts the shaded area from a mild gray to opaque.
I like to crank mine to near-maximum opacity. Anyone beyond 30 degrees from my direct line of sight sees nothing useful. I can also drag the bottom left and right corners to adjust the square’s size. This layer is the part only I can see, so I want it to have a comfortable level of visibility into whatever I’m doing.
I usually toggle it on and off from the Quick Settings panel when using bank apps or texting someone. The feature also exists in my phone’s settings menu. Go to Privacy > Peek Proof to enable it.
I love how uncomplicated and temporary it is, such that I can keep my clear screen protector and only activate it when I need it. Then I exit when done. In contrast, privacy screen protectors are a more lasting decision that costs my screen quality.
The micro-louver filter built into the film is effective, but it also mutes my screen brightness and dulls colors. For context, my GT 50 Pro runs a large 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with 144Hz refresh rate, 440ppi pixel density, and peak brightness that reaches 4,500 nits.
A privacy screen protector over it would neutralize elements that make it worth having in the first place. Mind you, it’s a gaming phone. You want every visual arsenal the display has to offer working in your favour.
That means the deep blacks and punchy contrast that AMOLED delivers and the full richness of one billion colors rendering every game environment, in my case.
Peek Mode covers my social trail
It turns me into a complete ghost
I found Peek Mode by accident while poking around my device. I usually do this in my free time to discover hidden gems. I am, by most accounts, a ghost on WhatsApp. Every privacy setting the app offers is on. My read receipts are off, and so is my last seen status. I intend to keep things that way for a long time.
Beyond disliking the immediate social obligation to respond to messages, I don’t like how the blue ticks look.
That said, Peek Mode is an XOS accessibility feature that lets me read WhatsApp messages privately without triggering double ticks or notifying the sender.
When enabled, it opens a dedicated menu in settings that pulls my WhatsApp conversations. Instead of the full WhatsApp interface with green accents, tabs, status icons, and chat bubbles, I get a stripped-back list of my conversations in a neutral-toned system UI. Go to Accessibility > Smart Panel > More Features > Peek Mode to enable it.
There is one limitation is that media doesn’t load. Photos and videos appear as placeholders, so you’ll only see the camera icon and the timestamp. I know of external apps that would probably fill that gap on the Google Play Store.
But it’s fair to say that I’m already doing the most. Besides, text is my priority, and I merely want to buy myself time until I’ve coordinated my thoughts to respond properly.
My Google Pixel is infinitely better since I tweaked these settings
Pixel settings you are probably ignoring
Privacy isn’t extinct yet
Privacy is increasingly becoming a luxury, so I’m glad that some OEMs still make time to build tools that put control back in the user’s hands. Even as the broader direction of the industry moves toward more connectivity and data sharing, you’re still allowed to own a phone and do a privacy audit in your digital life.
Peek Proof and Peek Mode features may be XOS-exclusive, but the wider open-source experience isn’t short of alternatives. Lock screen notifications are a good starting point. By default, most Android phones show message previews.
Anyone who picks up your phone or sits near you can read conversations without unlocking it. Set them to hide content so only the app icon and a generic alert appear.
