Don’t start panicking if you don’t see the Samsung Apps icon anymore on your device starting July 1. Samsung has decided to rebrand and rename its app store into Samsung Galaxy Apps. This is a move that seems to be establishing the app store as specific for the Galaxy line of the Korean-based tech company.
The announcement was made on Samsung’s official website and also included a look at the new logo of the app store, which matches the font and look of its Galaxy series. All your previously downloaded apps from the store will just be carried over into the new store, which presumably will also be overhauled aesthetically to match its new image. Hopefully, it will also bring better changes to the app store, including better exclusive app offerings and improved searchability. As it stands now, most Samsung users still get their apps from the Google Play Store so this change may not make much of an impact, to be honest.
The website did not offer any explanation for the change, but the most common speculation is that it may be to avoid confusion for Samsung’s other devices that use a different platform than the Android-based Galaxy series. Samsung’s other major platform, Tizen, is being heavily pushed with devices like the Samsung Z, their first Tizen phone and the Gear 2 smartwatch. So it’s only logical that they create a separate brand for the app store so that consumers will not be confused.
Aside from the branding and name overhaul, Samsung has also been making changes in some of their branded content services in order to streamline the apps and the app store. They removed the Samsung Hub from the recently-released Galaxy S5 as well as completely shutting down their Music Hub service.
SOURCE: Samsung
When will the new logo appear on my gs5