If you want to see how Flex Mode works on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, you are in the right place.
If you have a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, then you have probably played with some unique feature related to the foldable screen, namely Flex Mode. It allows users to take advantage of the fact that the phone can be folded halfway. If you’re curious about what it can do, read on to find out more!
What is flex mode?
Flex Mode is a feature built into the Galaxy Z Flip 4 that we loved during our review, and you don’t need to do anything to enable it. The feature is activated when the phone’s home screen is folded halfway. The sturdy hinge of the Samsung foldable device is used to use one half of the device as the main screen and the other half as a trackpad, keyboard, or display for relevant information related to the content displayed in the upper half. This is convenient for hands-free use by placing the phone on a flat surface.
Flex Mode is currently only compatible with a limited number of apps. However, among the supported apps are pre-installed options like Camera and Gallery. Flex Mode can effectively divide the screen and display relevant information on both halves. For example, using YouTube with Flex Mode allows the top half of the screen to display video and the bottom half to display additional content such as comments and recommended videos.
Not every app supports Flex Mode or has special features for it, and some apps have additional features on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 that aren’t on the Galaxy Z Flip 4. For example, on Fold 4, using Flex Mode will connect you to additional features in an app Calculator. These are not present on the Z Flip 4 due to the smaller screen.
How to use and enable Flex Mode for unsupported apps
Since Flex Mode is automatically enabled on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, you can use it by simply folding the screen halfway. However, make sure that orientation lock is disabled. Also keep in mind that Flex Mode is only available on Samsung foldable devices, so not all apps are optimized for it by default. Your mileage will vary depending on the apps you test.
However, if the app you are using does not integrate with Flex Mode, you can still force it to use Flex Mode UI. You fold your phone in half and hit the pop-up at the bottom to enable Flex mode, and from there, you can access a few more features.
In the leftmost image, you can see the icon appear at the bottom left which looks like a half folded phone. Pressing this button will enable Flex Mode, and bring up the user interface you see below in the next two screenshots. If you’re using a music app, you can search for the music that’s currently playing, but the other buttons also have functions. The buttons below are as follows:
- Notices: Tapping this button will pull down the notification shade which you can bring back by swiping up.
- screenshot: The next button allows you to take a screenshot, which can come in handy when the phone is half folded.
- Brightness and volume: The next two buttons will bring up the brightness and volume sliders, respectively.
- The touchpad: Finally, you have the Touchpad button, which enables a PC-style touchpad and a pointer that moves around the top half of the screen.
You can do the following using the touchpad:
- One-finger flick action.
- Open the menu with a two-finger touch (right-click).
- Scroll up and down with two fingers, left and right, by scrolling with two fingers.
- Zoom in/out when pinching with two fingers.
Using Flex Mode on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 isn’t the most compelling use case for why you’d pick one of these devices up, but it’s fun to play with and is one of the features that makes it one of the best smartphones you can buy. Although I don’t use it in any apps I have on my device, mostly because I feel it is more interesting on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Still, it’s great to see Samsung innovating with new features like this. They’re fun to fiddle with, and it’s interesting to tweak the UI of the app you’re using based on the fluid state of the screen. It will be something to watch and see how Samsung improves it in the future.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a clamshell foldable device that combines the compact form factor of phones of yesteryear with the modern Android experience. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s most powerful chipset and cutting-edge foldable OLED technology.
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