[Updated] Samsung One UI 2.5 update may bring ads to stock apps & lock screen, leaked image suggests

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on June 08, 2020) follows:

Samsung has been hiking the price of its flagship phones with every release. The current Samsung Galaxy S20 series, for instance, costs up to $1,500 or even more depending on where you buy.

This was unheard of five or so years ago when premium phones would cost in the regions of $700. But things are changing fast, with even the likes of OnePlus now boasting a $1,000 phone in the shape of OnePlus 8 Pro.

While some Chinese vendors display ads in stock apps and even on the lock screen as a way of making up for selling you powerful phones on the cheap, Samsung’s premium pricing means users get a clean UI that is free from annoying ads.

But over the recent past, multiple device users have been complaining about ads popping up in Samsung stock apps like the Samsung Health app. Samsung has dismissed these allegations.

Even as Samsung denies showing ads in its stock apps, reports of ads in even more Samsung stock apps are popping up. Apparently, other affected apps include Phone, Music, Weather, Galaxy Apps, Bixby, Samsung Pay, and probably more.

It’s such a shame that Samsung is showing ads on such expensive pieces of hardware. Even more baffling is that fresh developments surfacing from Korea suggest that this could be the norm when Samsung One UI 2.5 update arrives.

Thanks to an image alleged to be an early look at the upcoming One UI 2.5, ads will be displayed in even more Samsung stock apps as well as the lock screen.

With One UI 2.1 still rolling out, it remains unclear when Samsung plans to bring the said One UI 2.5 update. Will it be the one that brings Android 11 update? At this point, it’s hard to tell, so we wait.

According to SamMobile, it doesn’t look like Samsung will be adding ads to the upcoming One UI 2.5. The idea seems absurd and according to the Samsung-centric publication, it seems this was a “joke that got lost in translation.”

You can check out the whole story here.

Samsung indeed has an ads problem that needs to be dealt with. In fresh reports, multiple Redditors are now saying that pop-up ads are showing up in Samsung Music, Samsung Daily, and probably more stock apps.

Update 3 (August 19)

Samsung might be planning to release the Android 10-based One UI 2.5 update for the Galaxy Note 10 series and the Galaxy S10 series soon since new test builds have surfaced. The test firmware comes with the build number DTH4. Head here for more details.

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