
I have a confession: I absolutely loathe the idea of ads on my lock screen. The thought alone makes me shudder. So, you can imagine my reaction when I learned about Glance AI’s new partnership with Samsung. This AI-powered shopping platform is set to invade Galaxy phones, and it’s bringing its e-commerce shenanigans directly to your lock screen.
Glance AI, a subsidiary of InMobi (a company you might remember from its questionable bloatware tactics on Motorola phones), is launching its generative AI shopping experience on Samsung Galaxy phones in the US. This involves both a standalone app and, the real kicker, a lock screen component designed to subtly (or not-so-subtly) push clothing purchases. Thankfully, Samsung assures us it’s fully opt-in. But even with the option to decline, this feels like a harbinger of things to come – the relentless march of advertisers leveraging AI to bombard us with more targeted ads.
The app uses generative AI to create images of you wearing various outfits, offering new looks daily, all conveniently shoppable with a single tap. You can even set these AI-generated images as your lock screen wallpaper. While I personally find the entire concept unsettling, the current implementation on Samsung devices thankfully omits ads (at least for now). But given InMobi’s history in India, where Glance lock screens already display ads alongside news and sports updates, this could easily change.
The rollout is slated to hit Samsung Galaxy S22, S23, S24, and S25 series phones, reaching full scale within 30 days. Expect a push notification encouraging you to download it – another reason to be prepared to say a firm ‘no.’ Let’s hope this remains an optional feature, and that we don’t see a future where our lock screens are overrun with unwanted advertising. Because if that happens, I might just resort to throwing my phone into the ocean.