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Samsung has a long history of duplicating applications and services which are already offered by either AOSP or a proprietary service from Google. Some OEMs have chosen to embrace the fully-featured applications and services that Google offers (like we saw with the HTC 10), but then some OEMs like Samsung have chosen to be as independent from Google as possible. This actually results in a divisive debate within the community.
Some people feel this is filling up their internal storage with too many duplicated applications and services, while others enjoy it because they don’t like being tied down to Google’s ecosystem. We can’t really blame Samsung for doing this though because the more they rely on Google for these services then the more control they’re giving over (which sometimes results in less money they can potentially earn too). Samsung shut down their music service late last year (Samsung Milk Music), which is likely why they chose to go with Google Play Music this year.
So last week, Samsung announced they would be using Google Play Music as the default music player and the default music service on both the Galaxy S8 as well as the Galaxy S8+. Not only are the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ getting this treatment, but Samsung says it will happen on all Android-based Samsung phones and tablets launched in 2017. However, there are some limitations and restrictions put in place depending on a couple of variables.
Samsung says this could change depending on which market you are located in, and which carrier you buy your device from. We’re also told that device support will be expanded on in the future too. These customers will have the ability to uploaded as many as 100,000 tracks to their own personal library (up from the regular 50,000). Lastly, those who purchase the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ or the Galaxy Tab S3 can activate a 3-month free trial of Google Play Music (which also includes access to YouTube Red).
