Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 received a major upgrade over its predecessors in many ways. One of the most alluring specs upgrades is its ‘Flex Window’ or a giant cover display that extends the entire half of the back panel. It is no longer a tiny display for notifications but rather a giant panel that can showcase full-sized apps. All it requires is only a little bit of toggling in the back to get started and here’s how you can open any app on Z Flip 5’s cover screen.
Samsung Labs On The Job
By default, your Galaxy Z Flip 5 can run show widgets on its cover screen just as Galaxy Z Flip 4. It includes a tonne of notifications, weather, and calendar, among others. If you want to go beyond that, given the money you paid and the screen real estate you are getting, you can enable the feature called ‘Labs’ on the device. It unlocks apps WhatsApp, Google Messages, Samsung Messages, YouTube, Google Maps, Netflix, etc, that you should be able to use on the cover screen.
- To enable it, go to Settings on your device.
- Proceed to ‘Advanced Features >> Labs’.
- Toggle ‘Apps allowed on cover screen’ and that should take care of it.
Samsung pushes experimental and latest features on its Labs menu first. This is where your Flex Window or the cover screen can take the most benefit without using Google Lock to access apps. Of course, it’s still limited in terms of how many apps you can use, Labs still gives you access to a handful of apps as aforementioned that can get you around. You can’t pair Google Lock launcher with Labs so you will have to choose either or have two app drawers on the cover screen.
Install Good Lock & MultiStar
As said, another way to get most of the apps (optimized for Flip5’s cover screen) is by using Good Lock and MultiStar. There’s no rocket science behind how to install Good Lock & MultiStar. Once installed, you should be able to add a bunch of apps that adapt aptly to the screen real estate available onboard Galaxy Z Flip5.
Of course, there are some exceptions where the app may not perform as intended such as with the Google Wallet that users have found. But the good thing is, Samsung is working on building a Good Lock launcher with refined experience so you can expect the known issues to be ironed out soon. Here’s how to install it.
- First, go to Google Store on your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, search, and install Good Lock.
- Launch the Google Lock launcher from your primary app drawer.
- Find ‘Life Up’, tap on it, and install ‘MultiStar’ on your device.
- Open Multistar and select the ‘I Heart Galaxy Foldable’ button.
- Next, tap on the ‘Launcher Widget’ button.
- Finally, you need to add apps that you want on the widget, and that should get the job done.
