User customization is one of the main reasons so many of us call Android home, and for years now, Samsung's been one of the leaders in these regards with its great Samsung Themes platform. Samsung Themes allow you to change the look of your settings, notification area, system apps, and much more, but as part of the update to Android Pie, they're going to receive an unwelcome change.
Samsung phone owners that updated to the Android Pie / One UI beta have been sharing screenshots of a message in the Samsung Themes store alerting them that:
Free themes will be usable for fourteen days once applied and the Home screen will automatically change to the default Touchwiz theme (no theme theme) when the usage period ends.
Yeah, that's not cool.
It's unclear if you'll be able to reapply the free theme you were previously using after that 14-day period, or if you'll be pushed to purchase a paid one. Either way, it's a crummy move.
Samsung notes that it'll send out two notifications prior to changing you back to the default theme, the first going out a day before and the second letting you know 10 minutes before everything's reverted back.
You won't be affected by this until the Pie / One UI update lands, so if you still haven't jumped on the beta, you've got until January before Samsung throws a wrench in your theme game.
What are your thoughts on this?
