{"id":13160,"date":"2022-08-25T14:57:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T14:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/25\/cover-screen-os-makes-the-galaxy-z-flips-front-display-better-and-worse\/"},"modified":"2022-08-25T14:57:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T14:57:41","slug":"cover-screen-os-makes-the-galaxy-z-flips-front-display-better-and-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/25\/cover-screen-os-makes-the-galaxy-z-flips-front-display-better-and-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Screen OS makes the Galaxy Z Flip\u2019s front display better and worse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/24\/23320180\/cover-screen-os-galaxy-z-flip-4-widgets-keyboard-app-drawer<\/a>
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The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a great little foldable<\/a> held back by a too-tiny front display. It\u2019s just hard doing much on a 1.9-inch screen. Even though Samsung tried making it a little more useful in this year\u2019s iteration, it\u2019s still just a little window from which you can view notifications and certain widgets, but not much more. Developer IJP addresses just this pain point with its Cover Screen OS, a free app on the Google Play Store<\/a>. It\u2019s been available for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and got a recent update to support the Flip 4<\/a>. And it works \u2014 but it\u2019s also kind of awful for reasons outside of the developers\u2019 control.<\/p>\n

To IJP\u2019s credit, the app does a nice job of walking you through a somewhat involved setup process \u2014 you have to give it a lot <\/em>of permissions \u2014 and it integrates nicely with Samsung\u2019s existing launcher for the cover screen. Instead of overwriting the whole thing, it coexists peacefully by essentially overlaying a new set of swipe gesture controls on the right-most part of the screen. You can access additional quick setting controls, like do not disturb, and access media playback controls straight from the home screen. Meanwhile, all of Samsung\u2019s stock features, like widgets and Samsung Pay, are still there at your beck and call.<\/p>\n

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You can access the full app drawer on your phone\u2019s cover screen.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Instagram was just not meant to be used this way.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Cover Screen OS also lets you access a full app drawer and launch full apps on the cover screen itself. Should you try to look at Instagram posts through a tiny 1.9-inch letterbox-sized window? Absolutely not. But you can do it. <\/p>\n

Many more useful features are behind a paywall, like the ability to open a full notification on the cover screen and type a response with a full QWERTY keyboard. In fact, you may want to go ahead and pay for the app because the free version actually removes<\/em> the ability to dictate a response to a text that\u2019s supported by Samsung\u2019s stock OS. You can pay $1.99 per month or $14.99 yearly to unlock all features. Fun fact: you can choose your plan and process your payment through the Google Play Store, all on the cover screen itself. How\u2019s that for on-brand?<\/p>\n

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