After years of buildup, Samsung finally launched the much-awaited foldable smartphone, Galaxy Fold, at it its Unpacked event in San Francisco last week. Despite announcing the price and availability, the company, however, didn’t allow the press to play with the device to realize how it feels and works. As the curiosity about the device continues, the company has been posting bits and pieces of new information to keep the hype intact.
A few days back, the Korean company quietly released (now taken down) a four-minute video of the Galaxy Fold on its YouTube channel, giving us the most detailed look at the device so far. Continuing the hype, Samsung Newsroom has now posted an interview of Eui-suk Chung, Executive VP and Head of Software and AI at Samsung Mobile, where he talks about Galaxy Fold’s UX and multitasking capabilities. Frankly, nothing substantially new about the Galaxy Fold is mentioned in the interview, but there are some interesting bits about third-party app support for App Continuity and Multi-Active Window features.
To a question about if all apps support App Continuity and Multi-Active Window, the Samsung executive is rather cautious in his answer. While saying that the company has worked closely with Google and other partners, he added, “Support for App Continuity and Multi-Active Window will vary based on the application and the developer’s adherence with Google policies and guidelines.” From his statement, it appears some apps may support these features better than others.
Talking about the development of Galaxy Fold, Eui-suk Chung said that it took eight years for the company to turn the flexible display prototypes from 2011 into a meaningful product. He also said, with the introduction of the Galaxy Fold, ‘roll-able’ and ‘stretch-able’ device designs no longer seem impossible.
Galaxy Fold supports App Continuity and Multi-Active Window
The interview is accompanied by an illustration video where Samsung shows how the Galaxy Fold’s App Continuity and Multi-Active Window features work and how they are useful. The appeal of the Fold’s software is in, what Samsung calls, App Continuity. Simply put, App Continuity transfers an active app on the cover display to the main display when the Galaxy Fold is opened. Similarly, an active app on the main display transitions seamlessly to the cover display when the Fold is closed, enabling frictionless movement of activities from one display to the other.
Multi-Active Window, on the other hand, as the name suggests, allows Fold users to run up to three apps simultaneously on the main screen. That’s one app more than what’s currently allowed on Galaxy smartphones.
It is worth nothing Samsung is a bit ingenious when it comes to the cover display size in the video. The actual size of the outer display is smaller than what the video tries to portray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=6m6pXEi6VWI
