Earlier this month, Samsung announced its Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G phones – both launching with the One UI 3.1.1 update that makes the interface more intuitive to use on foldable phones. Now, the company has said that from today, its older Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, and Galaxy Z Flip are also going to get the update.
The new update comes with lots of new interface changes that are designed to make foldables easier to use. The new features include Drag & Split, Multi-Active Window and Natural Window Switching, Rotate All Apps, Set Aspect Ratio for Apps, App Split View, Flex Mode Panel, Pin Your Favorite Apps With Taskbar, and Cover Screen Mirroring.
With Drag & Split, you can more easily compare content side-by-side. Simply drag the link you want to check to the edge of your screen and see it open in a new window. This feature doesn’t work with all apps but some Samsung and Microsoft apps are supported including Samsung Internet, Samsung Notes, My Files, Messages, MS Office, OneNote, OneDrive, and more. Hopefully, other third-party apps can add support too.
With Multi-Active Window and Natural Window Switching, you can view three apps simultaneously on your screen arranged in your preferred layout. With the latest update, you can adjust the height and width of the windows. If you want to use this feature with unsupported apps, go to Settings then click Advanced Features and then go to Labs and select Multi Window for all apps.
One of the nice features is the ability to set the aspect ratio for apps which allow you to use apps without black bars down the side. This makes video and photo viewing more immersive. To enable this experimental feature go to Labs and press Customized App Aspect Ratios. From there, click on individual apps to change their aspect ratios, you can choose full screen, 16:9, 4:3, or app default.
If you want to learn how to enable each of these - and the other - new features, head over to Samsung’s announcement and follow the instructions. Be aware that not all of the features are available for all devices but most are.