How to fix screen burn-in or discoloration on Samsung Galaxy S8

Today’s post will address screen burn-in issue on a Galaxy S8. Screen burn-in or ghosting often occurs after letting a device display the same static image for a long time. Persistent images or ghost images may show on the screen and becomes visible at all times, regardless of what app you open. These persistent images are the result of phosphor compounds that displays light when an image is being shown losing their intensity after being used for a long time.

Problem: Samsung Galaxy S8 has red app shadows or screen discoloration (screen burn-in)

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S8 a year and a half ago and my phone has red app shadows but I thought that was part of the phone and just brushed it aside, then on Thanksgiving my brother and his girlfriend had the same phone and their phone didn’t have it so I started looking up what it could be. I found this site saying a lot of people were complaining about this problem, so I went to cricket where I bought the phone and they said I had to do an insurance claim which is gonna cost me 250.00. that I don’t have and I paid around 775.00 for this phone. this site says it’s a phone defect or hardware issue or something with the phone and it’s nothing I done to cause through problem.

I have been buying Samsung Galaxy phones since the switch came out and I wouldn’t have another brand phone so I’m asking how to get this resolved without having to buy another phone that I can’t afford right now because I live off a disability check and I have other bills to pay. but I need a phone because of my health issues and these red apps which the site is calling burn in makes it hard to see what I’m doing on the phone and my eye sight ain’t that good and this makes it worse.

Can Samsung please help me since this is a hardware issue? Thank you.

Solution: There’s no easy fix for screen burn-in issue. In most cases, the problem is caused by hardware malfunction or damage so any software troubleshooting is futile. Still, we recommend that you try our suggestions below to see if your particular case can be fixed on your level.

Clear cache partition

Making sure that Android is using good system cache is important. When a system cache is corrupted, it can sometimes make software experience sluggish and some functions not working properly. To see if you have a system cache issue, try to clear the cache partition with these steps:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Observe on safe mode

Some apps may interfere with Android, resulting to problems or minor bugs. To see if the red app shadows you’re seeing are caused by an app, restart your device to Safe Mode. In this mode, downloaded apps are suspended so if the screen discoloration or burn-in disappears, it’s probably caused by a bad app.

To boot your Galaxy S8 to safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your S8 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Factory reset

Factory reset works by returning all software settings back to their defaults and wiping all user data. If the screen burn-in you’re seeing is caused by a software bug, wiping the device and reverting all settings to their factory settings should help.

Before you wipe your phone, be sure to back important user data. If you don’t use cloud services to back your files up, we suggest that you try Samsung Smart Switch. This will allow you to create an image of your phone. If you haven’t heard of Smart Switch before, make sure to visit this page: How to create backup from Samsung device to your computer via Smart Switch.

Once you’ve created a backup, follow these steps to factory reset your S9:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Use a third party app

Some users claim that they were able to fix screen burn-in on their Android devices using an app called OLED Tools. We suggest that you check it out in the Play Store and see if that will work. The concept of such an app is to reduce or eliminate screen burn-in over time by showing a sequence of primary colors on the screen. Supposedly, this is going to restore the “burnt” pixels by allowing them to move around rather than stay in one same location for a long time. Let us know if any of these apps work.

Work with Samsung

If the problem stays at this point, you should use the warranty on your device to have it fixed or replaced. And yes, this may not be free, even if your Galaxy S8 is still within warranty. Talk to your local Samsung representative for any warranty disputes or questions.