Samsung News shutdown: what Galaxy owners must save now

An in-app notice on Galaxy devices confirms the Samsung News shutdown: Samsung says the built-in app will stop delivering content and updating its widget on December 21, 2026, at 00:00 UTC. SamMobile reported yesterday that the notice has so far turned up only inside the app in India and South Korea, with no published country list confirming wider reach. Opening Samsung News and checking for the banner yourself is currently the only reliable way to know if your device is affected.

If your Home screen still runs the Samsung News widget, showing headlines, sports scores, or stock tickers, it's worth checking now instead of assuming nothing has changed.

What's confirmed about the Samsung News shutdown date, and what isn't

The notice goes further than just the widget losing its refresh. SamMobile reported yesterday that the app itself and its dedicated media page on the leftmost Home screen panel are being discontinued too, not just the widget.

Mundo Conectado reported yesterday that Samsung hasn't confirmed which countries the shutdown covers, though SamMobile considers a worldwide rollout likely. That's an inference, not a confirmed fact from Samsung, so living outside India or South Korea doesn't guarantee an account is unaffected.

Device eligibility raises a similar open question. When Samsung News first launched in 2023, the Canadian rollout started in beta on select smartphones before expanding further, according to Samsung's Canadian newsroom announcement from that year. A staggered launch doesn't rule out a staggered shutdown notice either.

Open Samsung News today and look for the in-app banner. No banner means the notice hasn't reached that device yet, not that the account is excluded for good.

What happens to your data after the cutoff

Once the service shuts down, Samsung will delete the data, profiles, and personalization settings tied specifically to Samsung News (SamMobile, yesterday). That covers Samsung News account data, not the broader Samsung account, Google account, or other content stored on the device.

Mundo Conectado reported yesterday that the one exception applies where local law requires Samsung to retain certain data for a set period, in which case deletion follows once that period ends rather than immediately.

Since deletion happens shortly after the cutoff, anything worth keeping needs saving before December 21. Removing the widget is cleanup Samsung recommends, not a step tied to data loss, so that part can wait.

What to save before the Samsung News widget stops updating

No export tool for followed topics, sources, or trackers shows up in the notice or in current reporting. Mundo Conectado reported yesterday that anyone using the feed as a regular news reader needs to migrate manually before December, since there's no way to export followed subjects or saved sources.

Screenshotting followed publications, topics, and any sports or stock trackers before the cutoff is the most reliable backup available right now, given that no migration path exists.

Regional versions of the app varied in what they offered. Samsung News launched in Canada in 2023 with editor-curated morning and evening briefings and a dedicated "Following" tab for managing preferences, according to Samsung's Canadian newsroom announcement. Features like that may not match what's running in a given version of the app, so checking your own settings menu beats relying on a general description.

This isn't Samsung's first home screen news feed to go

Samsung News is the fourth feed Samsung has installed in that same leftmost Home screen slot since 2017, and every earlier version eventually got replaced (SamMobile, yesterday; Mundo Conectado, yesterday). Bixby Home launched in April 2017, gave way to Samsung Daily in October 2019, became Samsung Free with One UI 3.0 in late 2020, and was replaced by Samsung News in 2023.

Samsung's recent phone-side investment has shifted toward Galaxy AI and Gemini, which gained ground on the Home screen and inside Bixby with One UI 9 (Mundo Conectado, yesterday). That pattern of swapping out the feed every few years suggests any eventual replacement is unlikely to be permanent either, so treating Google Discover or a third-party app as the practical fallback makes more sense than waiting on Samsung.

Samsung News alternatives for Galaxy phones: where Google Discover fits

Samsung hasn't announced what fills the leftmost panel once Samsung News is gone. SamMobile reported yesterday that the company has said nothing about a replacement.

Google Discover already shares that same panel with Samsung News on many Galaxy devices, and Mundo Conectado reported yesterday that Discover could take over the spot through Home screen settings once the app shuts down. Samsung hasn't confirmed that as an official plan, and Mundo Conectado notes the company hasn't said whether Discover simply becomes the default or whether something built around Gemini takes its place instead.

Discover pulls its recommendations from Google search history, something Samsung's own feed never had access to (Mundo Conectado, yesterday). That means it won't recreate followed publications, sports scores, stock trackers, or editorial briefings from Samsung News. Anyone who wants that level of source control should look at a dedicated news app or RSS reader, since nothing in current reporting points to Samsung building a migration path.

Check Home screen settings for a Discover option now, but don't be surprised if the panel changes again after December 21. Samsung hasn't locked in what that space becomes.

What to do now

Open Samsung News today and check for the in-app banner. If it's there, screenshot followed sources, topics, and trackers before December 21, since no export tool currently exists for any of that.

Check Home screen settings for a Google Discover option as a fallback feed, and consider a separate news app or RSS reader for publications worth tracking directly. Remove the Samsung News widget whenever it's convenient, since that step is cleanup rather than data protection.

No banner doesn't mean a device is excluded for good. Samsung hasn't published a country list or a device eligibility rule, so checking back periodically beats assuming the notice will never reach a particular phone or tablet.