foldable smartphones

AppWizard
July 9, 2025
Foldable smartphones have evolved into functional devices, with Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 featuring a book-style design and a large display. Notion is a productivity tool that benefits from the Fold 7's screen space for note-taking and managing tasks. The Kindle app enhances the reading experience by utilizing the larger display for e-books. Samsung's Good Lock app allows for device customization, including features tailored for foldable devices. The Dolphin Emulator takes advantage of the Fold 7's Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset for gaming, allowing users to play GameCube and Wii titles. Super Display enables the Fold 7 to function as a portable monitor for Windows PCs. Canva's photo editor benefits from the larger display for designing graphics. Octopi Launcher allows users to customize app layouts for different screen orientations. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the thinnest and lightest of Samsung's book-style foldables, enhancing the mobile app experience.
AppWizard
July 7, 2025
YouTube has introduced a new feature allowing users to watch YouTube Shorts in landscape mode on smartphones, currently in the rollout phase and not universally available. This feature can be activated through the YouTube app's accessibility settings. When enabled, it automatically shifts to landscape mode when the smartphone is rotated. However, viewing Shorts in landscape mode results in a smaller display surrounded by black bands, which may diminish the user experience. The rationale behind this feature is unclear, but it may cater to users with reduced mobility who prefer landscape orientation. YouTube is expected to address landscape mode for foldable smartphones and tablets by the end of 2024.
AppWizard
May 26, 2025
Foldable smartphones often face software limitations, particularly with launchers, leading users to choose between restrictive first-party options and inadequate third-party alternatives. Octopi Launcher has emerged as a promising solution, recently launching in beta on the Play Store. It offers unique configurations tailored to both the smaller cover screen and the larger display of foldable devices, allowing users to customize layouts for different orientations and purposes. Users can create up to four distinct layouts, with options for portrait and landscape modes, and can easily set up new layouts with intuitive prompts. Octopi excels in widget management, allowing independent sizing of widgets and app icons without compromising icon size. It supports overlapping and stacked widgets, enhancing visual appeal. The app drawer offers customizable options, including traditional icon shapes or tiles that display app names. While Octopi is impressive, it is still in development, with limitations in its gesture library and basic search functionality. It is best suited for foldable phones, although it can still benefit traditional devices. Overall, Octopi Launcher is tailored for heavy customizers and shows promise for future updates.
AppWizard
May 23, 2025
Samsung's One UI 8 beta, based on Android 16, has debuted in the Samsung Members app, with a release expected this summer alongside new foldable smartphones. The beta banner has been spotted on Galaxy S25 devices in regions including the U.S., Germany, Poland, India, and Korea. An official notice in the Members app has outlined steps for testers to prepare for the beta installation. The beta program page is live for Germany and Korea, although registrations are not yet open. Users have begun exploring One UI 8 features, including an enhanced audio feature called Audio Brief and a redesigned weather app with interactive 3D avatars.
BetaBeacon
December 28, 2024
- Samsung is preparing to unveil the Galaxy S25 lineup at an event in early 2025, including a highly anticipated Special Edition model with a limited production run of three million units. - Despite hopes for foldable smartphones, adoption rates have not met initial expectations, with candybar phones still dominating the market. - Mediatek has launched the Dimensity 8400 processor with 8 regular cores, challenging Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets and offering consumers more choice in the smartphone market. - Minireview's list of the top mobile games of 2024 includes a diverse selection of titles for gaming enthusiasts. - Smartphone trends in 2025 are expected to focus on improved battery life, with companies investing in silicon batteries to offer larger capacities in more compact devices.
AppWizard
October 31, 2024
The Gemini app has been enhanced since its launch on Android, with updates improving its functionality for foldable phones and tablets. The app supports both cover and main screens, allowing users to switch view modes and minimize it. On the main screen, users can initiate Gemini with voice commands or gestures, reposition it, and use split-screen mode. The cover screen offers similar functionality, though split-screen support is limited. Gemini is compatible with various Android foldable devices, and there is potential for future support on standard smartphones.
AppWizard
August 27, 2024
Google is enhancing the Quick Share feature on Android devices, particularly for larger screens like tablets and foldable smartphones. The upcoming drag-and-drop file sharing capability, revealed in the beta version of Google Play Services (24.34.32 beta), will allow users to drag a file directly onto the recipient device's icon, streamlining the current sharing process. This feature is still in development and not yet fully operational.
Winsage
August 10, 2024
Samsung has launched One UI 6.1.1 for the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6, which simplifies the streaming of apps to Windows PCs by removing the need to repeatedly tap the “start now” button. This improvement is due to Microsoft's integration of its Link to Windows Service into Android’s framework. Users still need to unlock their phones to start streaming for security reasons. The update also blocks sideloading of apps by default, although this can be disabled. Currently, One UI 6.1.1 is exclusive to the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6, with potential delays for updates to older models and the open beta for One UI 7 based on Android 15.
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