The rumors and reports aren’t true: Samsung’s One UI 2.5 that will be released later this year will not show ads in the lock screen.
As first reported by TizenHelp, an alleged leaked screenshot of the upcoming Android skin showed a sample ad that would require 15 seconds of viewing before the user could unlock his device.
It was further speculated that the lockscreen ads would be implemented in Samsung’s more affordable range of smartphones, such as the Galaxy A and Galaxy M series, in order to offset their low prices like how Amazon does with its cheap Fire HD 8 tablets.
But it turns out, per a new report from SamMobile, the leaked screenshot was just “a joke that got lost in translation.” The image was merely a mockup and meant as satire among disgruntled users in South Korea after learning the native Weather app in their phones started pushing ads.
So no, there won’t be ads popping up in Samsung devices in the near future. Besides, Samsung has already been milking its customers through ads in its stock apps such as Music, Pay, and Health even in the current One UI version.