Good Lock has always been one of my favorite parts of the Samsung experience. It allows us to modify our favorite Samsung phones to suit our needs in a way that no other phone manufacturer offers, and it even lets us revert unwelcome changes that software updates can bring. The biggest downside to Good Lock, however, was Samsung’s insistence on requiring users to download it through the Galaxy Store, which means a majority of users never find it. Now, that’s changing for the better.
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What is Samsung Good Lock?
The best thing since sliced bread
For those who aren’t aware, Good Lock is a suite of apps Samsung has been making since the Galaxy S6 or S7 days. Once you open Good Lock, you can download different modules that modify parts of the phone. HomeUp changes your home screen, QuickStar adjusts your notifications and quick settings, and so on. It’s within these modules that Samsung tests upcoming features that may get added to One UI itself, as well as where it keeps niche features that only a small selection of the hardcore users will want.
Why does it matter if it’s on the Play Store?
More users will discover it
At the end of April, Samsung brought the main Good Lock app and a few modules to the Play Store. From its creation until that moment, Good Lock was only available from Samsung’s Galaxy App Store. So, why does this matter? Galaxy devices all come with both stores, after all.
Many users don’t bother with the Galaxy Store; I only check it for Good Lock and nothing else. The average user stays within the Google Play Store because that’s where 99.9% of the apps they want can be found. Those users are unlikely to ever come across Good Lock, and even if you or I told them about it, having to open a different app store to what they’re used to might be too inconvenient.
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Getting more users into the Good Lock ecosystem can only be good. For one, it allows those users to get more from their phones, and for the other, it helps out the famously small Good Lock team by providing them with plenty of feedback from an array of users.
Regional availability may also improve. Good Lock has long been restricted to select countries, and while there’s no improvement here just yet, we can hope that the move to the Play Store will address this as well. It’s all a step towards making Good Lock better than ever —​​​​​​ after all, the more people that use it, the more Samsung will want to build on its strongest differentiating feature.
What’s next for Good Lock?
The user experience could get better
So, is Good Lock moving to the Play Store a sign of more to come? We could see more of Samsung’s apps gradually move to the Play Store in the coming months. While I’ve never had an issue with the Galaxy Store, I hope this is the case. The Galaxy Store’s auto-updates feature is somehow even more broken than Google’s, and it would be nice if I only had to check one app store from now on.
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