After Samsung devices were updated to One UI 3.0, users began seeing notifications from a service called Samsung Free. There was no warning or opt-out screen before this latest update from Samsung that let users know what Samsung Free was or how it would impact their daily user experience.
Much like the response from iPhone users in 2014 when U2's album was force downloaded onto all iPhones, a lot of Samsung users weren't happy about Samsung Free. But what exactly is this service and is it possible—or worth it—to remove Samsung Free from your device?
What Is Samsung Free?
Samsung Free is best described as a content aggregator service, meaning that it compiles a lot of relevant content and media in one place for users to comb through. As the name implies, it's completely free to users.
Right now, the biggest complaint Samsung users have is that it was forced on them through an update and not presented as an option for them to download.
This also isn't the first time that Samsung has tried rolling out a service like this. This new Samsung Free service actually replaces Samsung Daily, which previously replaced Bixby Home in 2019. The company says that Samsung Free has more available content and is easier to navigate compared to its predecessor, Samsung Daily.
Any new Samsung phones that come with Android 11 and One UI 3.0 installed will already have Samsung Free pre-installed. If you haven't carried out the latest updates for your Samsung device, you won't see Samsung Free yet.
But because most Samsung devices force an update after three times of ignoring it, chances are your phone has already been updated to One UI 3.0.
To access Samsung Free, swipe to your left-most screen. Samsung Free will automatically load up as soon as you've swiped over to it. When it loads, you'll see four available tabs on the bottom to choose from: Watch, Listen, Read, and Play.
To exit Samsung Free, all you have to do is swipe right and it'll close out.
Watch
On the Watch tab, you'll see free content from Samsung TV Plus, the company's live TV service that comes on its smart TVs and is available as a free app on mobile devices through Google Play.
You'll see some popular cable channels like Hallmark Movies & More and America's Test Kitchen. Then, there are other more obscure, proprietary channels that still have great content, but aren't as widely recognized.
Listen
The Listen tab focuses entirely on podcasts. There's no music here, so you'll still have to turn elsewhere to fill that need, but there are a plethora of great podcasts. You can find popular hits from NPR and iHeartRadio, but overall, the available podcasts here are limited.
If you have a favorite podcast you typically listen to on Spotify or another podcasting app, you probably won't find it here.
Read
On the Read tab, you can view news articles from various websites. You can filter the stories you see by category and search for a specific story if you know what you're looking for, but for the most part, you'll probably just scroll until you see something worth clicking on.
On this tab, you can also view live news from CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, and Bloomberg to catch top news stories while they're happening.
Play
Lastly, you'll see the Play tab, which is dedicated to games. And what's awesome about these games is that you won't have to install any of them before playing. This is because they use Samsung's Android Game Launcher, which is typically pre-installed on your device.
You can use the search function to find a game that's up your alley or use the tabs to browse.
Is Samsung Free Worth Using?
If you find that you already get your content elsewhere, Samsung Free probably isn't worth your time.
For example, if you already have plenty of excellent content to stream from Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ or you already get your music and podcasts from Spotify, Samsung Free probably doesn't have much to offer you.
But it's at least worth checking out the service and seeing what's there (especially since it's free!) before you disable it on your Samsung device. But if you're set on getting rid of it, here's how to do it.
How to Get Rid of Samsung Free
Since Samsung Free is a stock app, there's no way to permanently delete it from your device. Annoying, right? But thankfully, there is a way you can at least disable it so you don't see notifications for it and won't accidentally swipe over to it from time to time.
Disabling Samsung Free is super simple.
- Long press on an empty portion of your home screen or pinch your screen with two fingers to bring up your device's home screen editing settings.
- Swipe to the left-most screen where Samsung Free is housed and you should see a toggle button at the top where you can disable it. Toggle it to the Off position and you're good to go.
- Once it's disabled, you'll no longer see Samsung Free pop up when you swipe to your left-most screen.
If you ever decide you want to start seeing the content Samsung Free has to offer, just follow the same instructions and toggle that button to the On position.
Do Whatever Makes You Happy With Your Samsung Device
If you think it's gross that Samsung would force a service (even if it's free) on its users without any warning, go ahead and disable Samsung Free. Although it would've been nice for Samsung to present it as an optional download or, at the very least, give notice to its users, the company is trying to compete with Google's Discover service.
Unfortunately, the best way for Samsung to compete was to just put the service on everyone's devices. But as we saw with the U2 album on iPhones, people don't like random content or services just popping up on their smartphones without warning.
Make your phone your own. Change up your theme or wallpaper, install a different keyboard, customize your icons, or disable Samsung Free. In a you-do-you world, all that matters is what you want to see on your phone day-to-day.