Samsung

Samsung officially is getting rid of ads in a few of its stock apps this year [U]

Ben Schoon | Aug 18 2021 - 6:57 am PT

Galaxy smartphones are generally pretty great, even with the software in the conversation. However, Samsung’s One UI skin is full of annoying ads through notifications and in stock apps. Apparently, though, Samsung may be removing those ads in the not-too-distant future.

This news comes out of South Korea with a report from Maeil Business News. The outlet claims that a recent town hall meeting hosted by Samsung Mobile chief TM Roh dropped the reveal that Samsung was reversing course regarding ads in its software with plans to tone down what’s being pushed. Roh was quoted (translated) as saying:

We decided to delete ads from basic apps such as Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Themes.

Update 8/18: In a statement handed to The Verge, Samsung has officially confirmed this change. The company will indeed remove ads from three of its stock apps — Weather, Pay, and Themes — sometime later in 2021. Samsung says:

Samsung has made a decision to cease the advertisement on proprietary apps including Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Theme. The update will be ready by later this year.
Our priority is to deliver innovative mobile experiences for our consumers based on their needs and wants,” the company said. “We value feedback from our users and continue our commitment to provide them with the best possible experience from our Galaxy products and services.

Those three apps don’t encompass the full list of apps that carry these frustrating ads, with Samsung Health being another key example. However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Over the past two years especially, Samsung has been scrutinized by the media and its fans alike for the practice of including so many ads in its software. The folks at Android Authority also point out that the report says the ads would be removed through coming One UI updates.

It’s unclear exactly how wide-ranging this change will be, or whether or not it would affect ads sent through notifications and other means. Below, we’ve captured several of the ads seen in stock apps as shown on a Galaxy Z Flip 3.