The inevitable may happen soon. Samsung may start showing ads on its smartphones as early as this year, though they may be region-based. Folks over at TizenHelp have grabbed a screenshot from a Samsung smartphone that shows a random ad playing on the lock screen.
The ad is unskippable and has a 15-second timer. This suggests that the user will have to wait for 15 seconds before they can unlock their phone. Obviously, that’s far from ideal. While ads on the lock screen are very much possible, Samsung is unlikely to place unskippable ads there.
According to the report, this screenshot is from a phone running One UI 2.5. The latest iteration of Samsung’s custom Android skin is still in development and will not make it into phones for at least a few more months. So, if authentic, this leaked screenshot could be from some internal tests.
Nevertheless, ads on a device’s system help smartphone makers generate a good amount of revenue and they are willing to compromise with user experience for it. Many Chinese OEMs like Xiaomi, Realme, and Vivo have already started putting ads on some system apps. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone vendor, could join them soon.
Samsung smartphones may start showing ads on system apps soon
It’s unclear if Samsung plans to put adverts only on its low-cost phones or on the flagships ones as well.
However, given the price customers pay for flagship phones and the profit margin on those phones, it’d be unfair for them to counter frequent ads their device.
It’s not fair for customers of lower-cost devices either, but that’s how the market has evolved of late.
With an ever-growing pricing competition in the low to mid-tier segment, smartphone makers are opting for other revenue methods and selling their phones as cheap as possible.
Ads on system apps is one of those revenue methods. Of course, you can’t disable those ads from within your device. Well, that depends on the device, but in most cases, it’s not possible.
One UI 2.5 may debut on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 series and the Galaxy Fold 2 smartphones.
These flagship devices are expected to launch in August, possibly on August 5. Their launch should be followed by Samsung releasing the One UI 2.5 update for older Galaxy flagships as well as select Galaxy A and Galaxy M series mid-range smartphones.
Along with this unwanted possibility of ads on system apps, One UI 2.5 will bring several new features as well. One of those is the support for Google’s navigation gestures on third-party app launchers. We’ll likely get to know more about One UI 2.5 features in the coming months.