The Galaxy Note 7 has native support for icon packs and themes

Theming and customization are part of the reasons we all love Android. But to get the full customization experience we typically had to turn to alternate launchers, icons packs, custom ROMs and third-party applications.

But manufacturers – and Google for that matter – have been increasingly adding what would otherwise be considered ‘custom’ features into their core OS or skin. So it is with the Galaxy Note 7, which supports icon packs right out of the box via Samsung Themes.

This means if you want to play around with the full scope of themes – not just wallpapers and color schemes but icons as well – you now need not look any further than the built-in Themes on the Note 7. Opening Samsung Themes on the Note 7 reveals three tabs: wallpapers, themes and icons. This follows on from Samsung adding support for third-party themes on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Whether this move will roll out to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Note 5 and possibly S6 range is as yet unknown. But if it does it could strike fear into the hearts of third-party launcher developers who have typically relied on a general distaste for the UI that comes out of the box.

If Samsung and potentially more OEMs start adding support for themes and icons by default, essentially cutting out the middleman, the main reasons to install a custom launcher start to dry up.

Are you happy to see Samsung supporting themes and icons natively? Or will you still use a custom launcher?