Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review: Waiting on the world to change

Some apps, like Lightroom, simply refuse to acknowledge that second, bigger screen. AccuWeather treats the open Fold 2 screen as a tablet in landscape mode, so using the app needs turning the phone sideways. What if you desired that big app window to take up the top half of the screen rather? And some apps refuse to appear in those smaller app windows at all, which youll only ever find after trial and error. App continuity is a terrific example: it guarantees that whatever youre doing on that outer screen continues on the internal one when you open the Fold 2.

Some apps, like Lightroom, simply refuse to acknowledge that second, larger screen. AccuWeather deals with the open Fold 2 screen as a tablet in landscape mode, so using the app needs turning the phone sideways. The point is, unless you stick to a handful of known-good apps, anticipate a lot of inconsistency.
What if you desire to run several apps at the very same time? Multi-active window mode, which lets you squeeze up to three apps into an on-screen grid at a time, is back. This grid view can be enormously valuable once you find the best mix of apps, and its reasonably simple to conserve them as a predetermined in case you want to use them again later.
What if you desired that big app window to take up the leading half of the screen instead? And some apps decline to appear in those smaller sized app windows at all, which youll just ever discover after trial and error. One of the biggest software additions to the Fold 2 is the ability to copy and paste by dragging text or an image from one window and dropping it into another.
Engadget Dragging and dropping in between several instances of the Office app works like a dream. So does dragging text from Chrome into Samsungs Messages app. Trying to move a snippet of text from an internet browser into, state, Google Docs? Nope. Ditto for dragging and dropping into Notion, which Ive come to depend on quite heavily. Theres that pesky disparity once again!
By now, it probably sounds like the Fold 2s software application is sort of a flop, and in some ways it is. App connection is a great example: it makes sure that whatever youre doing on that outer screen persists on the internal one when you open the Fold 2.
Theres no universal switch for it, though– you need to pop into the settings and choose apps to make the inside-to-outside switch. Thats the best choice. I do not want my PayPal details visible when I knock the Fold 2 shut, I do desire to keep reading my Kindle book when Im standing in line and unexpectedly need to utilize my other hand.
Then there are all those Flex mode features, which Samsung initially constructed for the Galaxy Z Flip. Long story short, Samsung and partners like Google tweaked their apps to make the most of that big screen when the Fold 2 is propped open like a laptop. When you fold the phone while shooting images, for instance, the viewfinder stays on the top half of the screen while the bottom half offers you access to electronic camera settings and controls, in addition to a quick view of the photos you just took. Making video calls with Duo in Flex mode is a pleasure, too: The person youre speaking with fills half of the screen, leaving simply the hangup button and some other alternatives underneath it.