Samsung Doesn’t Want You Using Free Themes Anymore

When Samsung rolls out Android Pie early next year, expect a major change to the free themes they offer in their Samsung Themes shop. A notice has gone out to Samsung phone owners to let them know that free themes won’t last very long before Samsung starts recommending you buy them.

The notice can be seen below, but the basics are as follows. Samsung is putting a 14-day cap on the use of free themes in its Samsung Themes store with Android Pie. After 14 days, they’ll let you know that your free theme will soon go away and your phone will switch back to the default “Touchwiz” theme. At that time, they’ll be sure to suggest more to help you “easily change your theme.”

This may seem confusing, but you should know that Samsung Themes offers both free and paid themes. Some designers are comfortable offering up themes for free, yet Samsung still wants to limit the use of those to just 14 days. Is it safe to assume that Samsung is doing this because they want you to buy themes that they’ll get a cut of? Probably. It’s also a garbage move.

We aren’t sure if you’ll be able to simply re-apply your current free theme or not, but either way, there is a chance that many of us never use Samsung Themes again. I often find a free one I like (“PixelizeD”), apply it, settle into it, and then rarely think about changing it. If I’m now going to be asked to make a change to my theme every two weeks, I’d rather just not deal with it. Plus, Samsung’s One UI looks nice enough without a theme.

Again, you don’t have to worry about any of this until your Galaxy S9, S9+, Note 9, or older Samsung phone gets Android Pie, which won’t be until next year, so you’ve got a while.

Cheers Jeremy!