Samsung Galaxy Store now requires a Samsung account

The Samsung Galaxy Store has quietly introduced a new requirement that users must have a Samsung account to download or update apps, but there has been no information about it until the last minute.

Earlier this month, Samsung announced in some regions that the Galaxy Store will soon require a Samsung account to download apps or even update those pre-installed on your device – this includes many key One UI components, like the camera app, and more.

From today, this requirement applies in full.

As announced, the Samsung Galaxy Store in all regions now requires a Samsung account to download or update apps. However, there is absolutely no notification of this change until the very last second.

Opening the Galaxy Store on a Samsung device, in our case the Galaxy Z Fold 6, works normally if there’s no Samsung account logged in. You can browse the store, open app listings, and more without any notification that an account is required. It’s only when you actually go to download an app that a pop-up requires you to sign in, and there’s no way to skip it. The “Forgot your password or don’t have an account?” link simply prompts you to create an account instead of letting you skip it.

The same goes for app updates. Even if you have pending system app updates, they won’t be done if you’re not signed in. In fact, you can’t even see available updates without signing in.

From what we have been able to determine, this also applies to automatic updates.

This change doesn’t have the biggest impact, to be honest, as Samsung has become increasingly aggressive about pushing Galaxy users to sign up for Samsung accounts over the past few years. However, if you consistently skip signing up for an account, this change means you’ll miss out on One UI updates and features simply by not getting system app updates through the Galaxy Store — updates that aren’t usually found on the Play Store.

If you don’t have a Samsung account yet, you can create one by providing your email address or phone number, or simply link it to your Google account if you prefer.

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