After many users complained, Samsung has finally officially confirmed that it has started removing ads from its first-party apps.
"We've decided to remove ads from basic apps like Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Themes." said Samsung.
This ad-free version of the app was first discovered by a Samsung user in South Korea which he later uploaded on a forum.
In addition, the TizenHelp site also found a response from Samsung officials who announced that ads had been removed from the health application (Samsung Health) on October 1.
"This is Samsung Health Operations Manager. Please note that the banner at the top of the Samsung Health app will not be rendered from October 1st." he said.
Although Samsung only confirmed the removal of ads in South Korea, this also applies outside South Korea. Where Samsung users in the US also see an ad-free app.
The ads on the banner have been removed from Samsung Pay, then the Health App where previously there were ads showing ads for Samsung smartwatches and also sports tips articles, in addition to the Weather and Themes apps.
In the Weather app the ad in the banner at the top now shows only the temperature and weather forecast.
It's worth pointing out that while banner ads are no longer visible in the Samsung Pay app, there's still a 'Featured section' that includes offers. But it goes hand in hand with using the app as a mobile payment system.
So if the ads don't go away from the first-party apps on your Samsung phone, you may need to select 'force stop' to remove them from these apps.
To force stop an app on a Samsung device, simply go to Settings > Apps and scroll to find the name of the app you want to stop.
Tap on the name of the app and tap on "Force stop" located at the bottom right corner. A pop-up menu will appear stating that if you stop the app, an error may occur.
Then tap "OK." Reopen the app and the ads will disappear.
