Samsung News to shut down on December 21, ending Galaxy users’ built-in news feed

• Samsung News and its home-screen widget will stop receiving content updates on December 21.
• Samsung has not announced a replacement, although Google Discover is already available on supported Galaxy devices.
• User profiles and personalization data will be deleted after the service ends, except where retention is legally required.

Samsung is discontinuing its Samsung News app on December 21, 2026, bringing an end to its in-house news aggregation service for Galaxy phone and tablet users.

The service will stop delivering content at 12 a.m. UTC on that date, while the Samsung News widget will no longer receive updates. The shutdown was first reported through an in-app notice shown to users in certain markets, including India and South Korea, according to SamMobile.

Samsung has not provided a detailed explanation for the decision or confirmed a dedicated replacement.

Launched in 2023 as the successor to Samsung Free, Samsung News offered users a personalized feed of news and other content through a standalone app and home-screen widget. It was part of a series of content services developed by the company, following Samsung Daily and Bixby Home.

The latest shutdown means Galaxy owners who relied on the service will need to consider other options for accessing news directly from their home screens.

When will Samsung News shut down?

Samsung News will officially end on December 21, 2026. Content delivery will stop at 12 a.m. UTC, and the accompanying widget will no longer receive updates.

Until then, the service will continue to work for users who still have access to it. Samsung has advised users to remove the widget from their home screens after the shutdown.

Samsung has not announced a direct replacement for its news service. However, Google Discover is already available on supported Galaxy phones and tablets.

Android Authority reports that Google Discover will likely become the default option on the leftmost panel of the One UI home screen. Users can also turn to third-party news apps and RSS readers to build their own content feeds.

Samsung has not explained why it is ending the service. User reactions suggest that Samsung News had a mixed reception.

In a discussion on Reddit's r/samsunggalaxy community, some users expressed disappointment, describing the app as one of the few pre-installed services they found genuinely useful. One user appreciated that it offered news without the volume of advertising found on other platforms.

Others said they rarely or never used it, with some describing the service as unnecessary and saying they had already switched to Google Discover or planned to use an RSS reader.

The contrasting reactions underline the challenge of maintaining a standalone news feed when users have access to established alternatives.

What happens to user data after the shutdown?

Samsung says personal information collected through Samsung News will be deleted after the service ends. This includes user profiles and personalization information.

There is an exception for information the company is legally required to retain. In those cases, Samsung says it will keep the data only for the period required under applicable regulations before deleting it.

The December shutdown will mark the end of Samsung's latest attempt to maintain its own news aggregation platform. With Bixby Home, Samsung Daily, Samsung Free and now Samsung News all discontinued or replaced, Galaxy users will increasingly depend on Google's services and third-party apps for personalized content.