Samsung is refreshing numerous things with its new One UI 6.0 update, now available for the Galaxy S23 series outside the beta program. A new One UI typeface is omnipresent, and several first-party apps have left the “Samsung” prefix behind. For example, Samsung Music is now simply Music.
Speaking of app renames, the Game Launcher app, whose features we covered extensively last week, is getting a complete rename. On devices running the One UI 6.0 update, Game Launcher is now called Gaming Hub.
If that latter name rings a bell, well, it should. Gaming Hub is Samsung's cloud-based gaming platform for select smart TVs and The Freestyle 2nd edition portable projector. However, as of this writing, the Gaming Hub mobile app has seen no additions or cloud gaming capabilities.
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Samsung announced this change through a notice ahead of releasing the stable One UI 6.0 update for the Galaxy S23 series. The company explained that:
- The service will be named Gaming Hub starting with Android OS version 14, and earlier OSs will also be updated sequentially. (Please note that on some OSs, “Game Launcher” and “Gaming Hub” may be used interchangeably in certain menus.)
- With the app name change, legal texts including the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy will also change the service name to “Samsung Gaming Hub.”
- This is a separate service from “Samsung Gaming Hub” on Samsung TV, which is available in some countries, and syncing, etc. is not supported.
No cloud-gaming capabilities. Yet?
In its notice, Samsung further explains that Gaming Hub aims to be more than just an app that automatically groups your installed games and provides some extra content, such as the egg-hatching mini-game and access to Instant Games.
Samsung claims that it will provide Gaming Hub users “with many different features over time” but doesn't go into detail.
If we were to take a guess, we'd say that Samsung is preparing to add cloud gaming to the Game Launcher, now Gaming Hub. Otherwise, this rename doesn't seem to be making a lot of sense and can create some confusion. But the company hasn't confirmed this, so it's all up in the air.
As of this writing, the Gaming Hub app in One UI 6.0 looks unchanged from Game Launcher. No features seem to be missing, and no new ones were included, either.
