When Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5, it focused more on letting users interact with apps through widgets rather than allowing full-fledged apps on the big cover screen. Since then, it has been trying to add more widgets to the cover screen, and it could soon add YouTube Music to the cover screen.
YouTube Music could bring cover screen widget on foldable phones
According to a report from Android Authority, YouTube Music could get a Now Playing widget on the cover screen of Galaxy Z Flip-style foldable smartphones. Version 7.24.51 of the YouTube Music app for Android has a string of code that refers to a widget that can be added to the cover screen.
The same code was reportedly spotted in the app's AndroidManifest.xml file. This file is extremely important for Android apps and contains relevant information about that app. It matches Samsung's recommendations for making cover screen widgets appear on the Flex Window on Galaxy Z Flip series phones.
It appears that Google is still testing the feature internally, and the cover screen widget isn't ready for prime time yet. Hopefully, it will offer more controls and options than the regular Now Playing widget that can be added to the home screen. We believe the widget should have controls for play/pause, previous track, next track, shuffle, repeat, like/dislike, and popular/saved playlists.
When the feature is completely developed, it will be available on your Galaxy Z Flip series phone when you navigate to Settings » Cover screen » Widgets.
Watch other Flex Window widgets in our Galaxy Z Flip 6 review video below.
It would be ideal if Google created an API and design guidelines to create cover screen widgets for all clamshell-style foldable smartphones. If there is a central API, it would be easier for third-party app developers to create useful and good-looking widgets.
