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Samsung will restrict free device themes to 14-day trials starting with Android Pie

Samsung’s Android devices let you adjust settings pretty much everywhere, and that includes full device themes. Starting with Android Pie, though, Samsung Themes which are free will only work for 14 days.

A notice has been going out today to Samsung users in the Samsung Themes store which describes a new policy change. Starting with Android 9 Pie, free themes will only work for 14 days before being automatically reverted back to the default “TouchWiz” theme. It’s not exactly clear why Samsung is making this change, but more than likely it is being made in an effort to push more theme sales.

Two notifications will be sent to users before the theme is changed back. The first notification will be the day before it reverts and will give some suggested alternative themes. The second notification will come in 10 minutes before it reverts.

Free themes will be usable for fourteen days once applied and the Home screen with automatically change to the default Touchwiz theme (no theme theme) when the usage period ends. Before the Home screen is changed to the default theme, we will provide two prior notifications to help you change the theme beforehand.

Of course, users won’t have to worry about this policy taking effect until next year when Android Pie starts rolling out. At that point, developers will also likely need to redesign their themes to work with Samsung’s new One UI.

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