Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 on July 10. The new foldables bring several hardware upgrades, and the Flip 6 is particularly a notable improvement over the previous model.
On the software side, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 come preloaded with One UI 6.1.1. Samsung has introduced some new Galaxy AI features and improved existing ones that debuted on the Galaxy S24 series.
The foldables also come with some of the Galaxy S24 series' exciting non-AI features. Is support for full-screen lock screen wallpapers in Always On Display (AOD) mode on the list?
Fold 6 and Flip 6 support AOD wallpapers, but conditions apply
Let's start with the Galaxy Z Fold 6: yes, it does support AOD wallpapers. However, AOD wallpaper support is restricted to the cover screen.
On the Galaxy Z Flip 6, it's a little complicated. The good news is that the Flip 6 does support AOD wallpapers. The bad news is that they are only supported on the cover screen, but that's not all: you can only see the wallpaper for five seconds at a time.
That is because the Flip 6 supports AOD wallpapers only when Always On Display is set to the Tap to show setting. The Tap to show setting, which is the default on all Galaxy devices, requires you to tap the screen to make AOD appear. It turns AOD off after a few seconds, so the wallpaper is only visible for a few seconds as well.
If AOD is set to be always active or scheduled to turn on at specific times, the Flip 6 uses the traditional implemenation. You will only see the time, date, and notification icons on an otherwise fully dark display.
Here's an image showing the Always On Display settings menu on a Fold 6 (left) and a Flip 6 (right):
Furthermore, the traditional implementation is the only one available for the Flip 6's main display. Whether AOD is set to show when the screen is tapped or is always visible, the main display will not show the lock screen wallpaper.
Why all these restrictions?
Why has Samsung put these limitations in place? As far as the inner displays are concerned, it's simple: Samsung doesn't want users to leave their Galaxy Z Fold or Galaxy Z Flip smartphone lying around unfolded.
Foldable displays don't have traditional glass protection and are, therefore, rather fragile. Restricting some fancy features, such as AOD wallpapers, is a good way for Samsung to demotivate users from leaving the foldable display exposed.
As for AOD wallpapers only showing on the Flip 6's cover screen for a few seconds at a time, it's probably because the cover screen doesn't use the same efficient display panel as the inner screen.
AOD wallpapers debuted with the Galaxy S24 series and were made possible because of the higher efficiency of the new display panels employed by the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 uses the same panel on both sides. But the Flip 6 only uses it for the inner display. The cover screen is the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 5's, so it's not nearly as efficient.
As always, we do question Samsung's decision to just outright disable some features because of concerns such as battery life instead of leaving it up to the user to decide if they are willing to make some sacrifices necessary to use such features.
It's one of the many ways in which Samsung is becoming more restrictive like Apple, and it's something that has angered long-time fans of the Korean giant. But what feels restrictive to hardcore and advanced users is often a good thing for the average consumer. In that regard, Samsung's decision is understandable.
