Your Samsung phone has a secret picture of a Chihuahua dog

Samsung phones are hiding a secret not many people know: an old, low-resolution, full-screen, enlarged photo of a Chihuahua dog. Apparently this photo is found in all Samsung Android devices, and those who want to see it need to access a secret phone diagnostic menu. Here’s how to access the hidden photo on your own phone.

How to access diagnostic mode on a Samsung phone

1. Go to the Phone app (the one for calls)
2. Type *#0*#
3. From the menu that appears, select IMAGE TEST
4. The secret photo of that Chihuahua will appear

What is the purpose of this picture?

Apparently this is used, especially in Samsung service, to diagnose problems with the screen of phones. If there are any dead or stuck pixels, they will most likely be able to be seen on this dog image. Incidentally, other options in the diagnostics menu also display primary colours across the whole screen to detect various display issues, including burn-in for OLED screens.

The reason why the image is at such poor quality though, might have to do with the fact that it’s a very old image, this has been present in Samsung’s diagnostic software for many years. At the time, the phone cameras with which this picture was most likely taken did not offer very high resolutions.

As is usually the case with all sorts of “easter eggs” in various apps or video games, most likely the person responsible for making the diagnostic menu took a picture of their own dog and integrated it into the project they were working on for work. Possibly it was a joke during development, which the rest of the team appreciated, thus making the decision to keep the image in the software, or maybe no one noticed for a long time, and now it would be too late to change the photo.

The fact is that all Samsung phones have a built-in Chihuahua, and there are no easy ways to “get rid” of it.