Say hello to Samsung Free, the latest rebranding of the company’s content discovery platform on its devices. The new service is now rolling out to Galaxy smartphone users starting with the Android 11-based One UI 3.0.
Samsung Free is essentially a rebranded version of the Samsung Daily service that sits to the left of the home screen on Galaxy smartphones. It comes with a UI overhaul that, according to Samsung, provides a simpler, more streamlined content experience for users. A video posted by a user on Twitter has now shown the new service in action.
With the latest version, Samsung has divided the UI into three simpler tabs: Watch, Read, and Play. The Watch section is seemingly home to video content from the company’s linear TV service Samsung TV+. The content in this section can be filtered with movies, news, entertainment, and more. However, it’s unclear if it will show video streams from sources other than Samsung TV+ as well.
The Read section features news from various sources. It also has various filters such as tech, news, world news, politics, health, etc. Lastly, the Play section houses a few instant games that can be played without requiring any downloads. Users can add more games though it’s unclear where these instant apps are sourced from.
Samsung Free rolling out as Samsung Daily replacement
Last year, Samsung replaced Bixby Home with Samsung Daily along with Android 10 update. The new information hub introduced minor changes to the interface while retaining the core functionality. The change was a part of Samsung’s efforts to streamline the experience for users.
The company is now continuing on those efforts and the latest rebranding now looks all more simpler and easier to navigate. However, not everyone likes the same thing. And if you’re one of those who doesn’t prefer to see a new app open up after an accidental swipe on your phone’s home screen, you’d probably love to know that you can always disable Samsung Daily/Samsung Free.
Samsung had partnered with various content providers such as Flipboard, Giphy, Netflix, and Twitter for Samsung Daily. However, the company also kicked out a few content providers from the card-based contextual information hub. Foursquare and Uber cards were among those that saw the ax.
In a recent notice to users, Samsung said that introduction of Samsung Free will also see the discontinuation of some cards. But it hasn’t named any service that’ll be missing out. It remains to be seen how many of the existing partnerships would continue with Samsung Free and if the company has signed up more content providers for the new platform.
— Rydah | Samsung Daddy (@SamsungRydah) November 4, 2020