Galaxy Z Flip's Flex Mode will be available to more manufacturers soon

XDA

Google helped design the Galaxy Z Flip's Flex Mode and will allow other phone makers to have access

By Pranob Mehrotra

Published Feb 12, 2020

In a recent statement to The Verge, Google revealed that it helped design the Galaxy Z Flip's Flex mode and it will be available to more phone makers soon.

Clamshell devices of yesteryears are making a comeback in 2020, thanks to innovations in display technology. Following the launch of the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X last year, Motorola showcased the all-new Moto Razr — a phone that artfully combines the design of its namesake with a foldable display. Riding on the foldable phone wave, Samsung also announced its second foldable phone recently — the Galaxy Z Flip — which adopts the vertically folding design that is arguably more intuitive than the Galaxy Fold's tablet-like form factor.

Unlike the Moto Razr and the Galaxy Fold, which can only be used in two orientations, the Galaxy Z Flip features a double pivot hinge that can be free locked into any angle between around 90 and 180 degrees. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities on the software front, allowing you to use the top and bottom half of the display for different purposes at the same time. Samsung calls this new feature "Flex Mode" and during the launch event, the company demonstrated the top half of the display being used to watch YouTube videos while the bottom half was used for reading comments or searching for other videos. Now, a recent report from The Verge reveals that this new Flex mode was developed by Samsung in partnership with Google and it will soon be available to other phone makers.

This is definitely great news as the new Flex mode could prove to be quite useful for future clamshell-style foldable devices. It could also prove useful for dual-screen devices like Microsoft's Surface Duo, allowing users to utilize both displays for different purposes while using the same app. It's worth noting that Microsoft has already published a preview SDK for making dual-screen Android apps which will allow developers to create apps that can be spanned across both displays when they're in double-portrait or double-landscape mode.

Via: The Verge