Samsung Family Hub Update Removes Ads From First-Party Widgets

Samsung has quietly started pushing an update for its Family Hub smart fridges that restores the ability to turn off display ads without also killing access to the widgets. According to original reports from owners, the toggle now decouples ads from core tiles, bringing a widely loathed trade-off (clean screen vs. basics like time) back to its status quo by default.

What changed and why it matters for Family Hub owners

When Samsung debuted promos on Family Hub earlier this year, the company added a setting to turn off ads. Here’s the catch: With ads turned off, the entire widget container was disabled and along with it went my dear weather forecast. That design decision provoked outcry across owner forums and social channels, with many arguing that a fridge should not need promotions to show the day’s temperature.

Users began reporting the new behavior after a recent software push, which caches weather data, they said, even when ads are blocked. It’s a small switch with outsized implications, because it restores the expectation that vital features don’t depend on us accepting marketing. This is great news for user experience, especially in the realm of connected appliances (i.e., where utility trumps monetization).

How to remove ads on Samsung Family Hub smart fridges

Owners say the control is in the same location. Flip the switch to Off.

• Open Settings from the main menu on the refrigerator’s display.
• Select Advertisements.
• Turn the toggle Off.

After the update, the weather tile works and the home screen doesn’t rotate promo sections. If you don’t see the change, verify that your fridge has an available software update, and make sure it is connected to Wi‑Fi and signed into your Samsung account.

Because Samsung sells the Family Hub across a wide range of models spanning back to 2016, some features can differ depending on generation and region. If the toggle continues to take away widgets on your device, you’re apparently still in line for a staged rollout. Power-cycling the device or signing out and in to your account may cause the most recent setting to take effect.

Rollout status and owner reports across models and regions

Several posts over at the Samsung subreddit contain screenshots of weather tiles still intact even after ad disabling. These are anecdotal, to be sure, but they do seem to fall in line with how Samsung tends to release Family Hub firmware updates — gradually and sometimes server-side, which allows them to enable or change certain modules without completing the full download of a new firmware. Timing will vary by model year and region, so stay tuned.

If your SmartThings routines, or third-party services interacting with Family Hub, depend on what day it is (it would be weird), we can’t say whether the ad toggle does anything with any of those integrations. The update seems to only affect the section which was showing sponsored cards.

The Broader Picture For Ads On Appliances

Advertising sneaking into devices we already own has emerged as a flashpoint across consumer tech. TVs have long mixed updated software features with newly placed ads, streaming services have helped make ad-supported tiers the default, and some carmakers have experimented with hardware subscription services. In that broader context, a refrigerator displaying offers in the kitchen seemed to many like a bridge too far.

Consumer advocates have raised concerns about design decisions that steer users into monetization. The Federal Trade Commission’s staff report on “dark patterns” shows how default settings and bundled controls can curtail that freedom to choose. Smart appliances, too, have been singled out by privacy researchers at Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included project as opaque about how they share data. Let’s say bringing back a clean ad toggle (keep core widgets) goes along with those best-practice guidelines better.

Why this update is a smart move for connected fridges

Family Hub is supposed to streamline the kitchen: calendars, recipes, shopping lists, and a last check of the weather before doing school drop-off. Relocation of ads from essential tiles de-links that part and keeps some value prop for its appliance. It also reduces the support load from confused owners who didn’t know that you could turn off ads — or were pissed to discover doing so busted the layout.

In the long run, this can be a model for other smart home vendors: make monetization really opt in, keep defaults polite, and do not lock basic functionality behind promotional content. That’s the route to lasting trust in devices that are increasingly foundational pieces of people’s daily lives.

For Family Hub owners: the bottom line and next steps

If your refrigerator is now displaying advertisements, well, at least you can turn them off without losing the weather widget. Find the Advertisements toggle under Settings, and if you haven’t yet received the change, be aware that it will roll out slowly. It’s a modest but crucial change — one that returns utility to the heart of a connected appliance.