To IJP’s credit, the app does a good job of walking you through a somewhat involved setup process — you have to give it a lot of permissions — and it integrates nicely with Samsung’s existing launcher for the cover screen. Instead of replacing the whole thing, it coexists peacefully by effectively overlaying a new set of swipe gesture controls on the far right of the screen. You can access additional quick setting controls like do not disturb and access media playback controls right from the home screen. Meanwhile, all of Samsung’s stock features, such as widgets and Samsung Pay, are still available. You can access the full app drawer on your phone’s cover screen. Instagram just wasn’t meant to be used this way. Cover Screen OS also lets you access a full app drawer and launch full apps on the cover screen itself. Should you try to view Instagram posts through a tiny 1.9-inch letterbox-sized window? No way. But you can do it. Many more useful features are behind a paywall, such as the ability to open a full notification on the cover screen and type a reply with a full QWERTY keyboard. In fact, you might want to go ahead and pay for the app because the free version actually removes the ability to dictate a response to a text supported by Samsung’s operating system. You can pay $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year to unlock all features. Fun fact: you can choose your plan and process your payment through the Google Play Store, all on the cover screen itself. How’s that for on-brand? Using most apps on its tiny screen is a pain The fact that this app even exists just highlights that people want to do more with the Z Flip’s cover display than the current design allows. Using most apps on its tiny screen is a pain. there’s a reason why Samsung doesn’t allow this level of interaction in the first place. But Cover Screen OS is a nice piece of software if you want to do more than just read notifications without unfolding your phone. It picks up where Samsung left off, and Samsung has left a lot of what you can do with the cover screen. Hopefully the Z Flip 5 will take a page out of Motorola’s book and give us a bigger canvas to work with.
