Samsung Frame TV asks for subscription to view photos

❗Article Status Notice: This Article is a stub

---

This article is underdeveloped, and needs additional work to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. Learn more ▼

Issues may include:

• This article needs to be expanded to provide meaningful information
• This article requires additional verifiable evidence to demonstrate systemic impact
• More documentation is needed to establish how this reflects broader consumer protection concerns
• The connection between individual incidents and company-wide practices needs to be better established
• The article is simply too short, and lacks sufficient content

How you can help:

• Add documented examples with verifiable sources
• Provide evidence of similar incidents affecting other consumers
• Include relevant company policies or communications that demonstrate systemic practices
• Link to credible reporting that covers these issues
• Flesh out the article with relevant information

This notice will be removed once the article is sufficiently developed. Once you believe the article is ready to have its notice removed, visit the Discord (join here) and post to the #appeals channel, or mention its status on the article's talk page.

In July, Samsung introduced an update to their Frame TVs, revoking free access to a feature that was for the product; displaying digital photos. This update now requires consumers to purchase a subscription to the Samsung Art Store in order to continue using this device's primary feature.

Background

Historically, Samsung has been known to revoke or restrict features from their products before, such as [incident 1], [incident 2], and [incident 3], harming the rights over the products that consumers purchase.

Removing a base feature from the product

Before the July 2025 update to the Samsung Frame Smart TV devices, users were able to rotate photos, display slideshows, and use other basic photo manipulation features. After the July 2025 was pushed, those features were removed, and now require a subscription to use with the only viable alternative being using your Samsung mobile device. At the time of the update, no known free alternative was known to restore functionality.

Samsung's response

Here is a response from a Samsung Community Manager on the EU Samsung forums:

Frame TVs LS03B , LS03C & LS03D (Y22, Y23 & Y24)

Some Frame TV owners may see a message asking them to subscribe to the Samsung Art Store when they attempt to display a slide show of their own photos using the My Photos feature of the Art app. This has been occurring following a recent update to the Art app.

A version of the Art app that does not require a paid subscription to use the My Photos feature is currently being prepared.  The improved app is expected to be released in early August (WK32).  This update will be applied automatically to the TV.

Consumer response

Summary and key issues of prevailing sentiment from the consumers and commentators that can be documented via articles, emails to support, reviews and forum posts.

---

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.