Samsung pulls plug on Tizen App Store affecting existing and new users; details here

Samsung introduced the Tizen operating system back in 2012. With its own operating system, Samsung planned to manufacture smartphones running on Tizen OS and include the system in other smart devices such as wearables, televisions and more. As the company refined the operating system, it started coming out in multiple smartphones including the Samsung Z series. Since then, Samsung has also included multiple versions of their Tizen OS to run on Samsung's Galaxy wearables and other devices. However, Samsung is pulling the plug on its Tizen App Store. 

According to a report by GSMArena, Samsung's Tizen App Store is not accessible anymore. Both the existing Tizen users nor new users would not be able to access applications on Tizen App Store. The development follows after Samsung closed registrations for new users back in June 2021. Additionally, existing users were also limited to accessing the applications that they have downloaded previously. 

Samsung shuts down Tizen App Store

The report states that the Tizen App Store has been permanently closed after December 31, 2021. As a consequence, users on Samsung's Z series of smartphones (with Tizen OS) would not be able to access any applications. This also implies that there will be no new updates for the applications that are running on the Tizen OS with existing users. Hence, both the smartphone series and the operating system are hereafter obsolete. 

While the last Samsung Tizen-operated smartphone came out in 2017, the company has been using the Tizen OS across its lineup of smartwatches, except the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Popular smartwatches that run on Tizen OS include the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. In 2021, Samsung did announce a smartwatch but it ran on a unified platform developed by the company in close collaboration with Google, called the Wear OS 3. 

Back in August 2021, Samsung hosted a Galaxy Unpacked event to launch the popular foldable devices, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. Now that the company is rumoured to launch the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22 series, it is rumoured to launch another Galaxy Unpacked event. Previously, it was known that the South Korean tech giant is planning to launch the Galaxy S22 series in February. Now, the rumour mill has a particular date.

(Image: SAMSUNG)