How to use the cover screen on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

In Flex Mode, the phone can be used to make a hands-free video call, or take a selfies. There are lots of things you can do with the phone closed.

It's a place where you can read notifications, check the weather, set a timer, and control your smart home without opening your phone. You can change the display with a photo of your own.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Take control of the Z flip cover screen and get the most out of it. The guidelines were written using theGalaxy Z flip 4.

Basic controls

Basic controls are the first thing that comes to mind. The cover screen won't show anything until a notification comes in. Double tap the display to wake it. You can see your notifications and view the widgets from here. Swiping down from the top of the screen will bring up a quick settings panel, and you can use your finger to access the Pay function.

Clock style

You can change the wallpaper and clock style with the screen active. You must open the phone's main display to modify these options. The clock style can be accessed from there.

You can pick from a basic or graphical style. If you tap any of the basic styles, you will be able to add a clock background image to the page. If you want to have fun, you can choose a photo or video from the phone's gallery.

You can only choose one custom photo or image to be used on all the clock styles, and you can't assign a different photo to each. You can change the clock colors with your photo selected.

Below the basic clock style options are some graphical options that can be tailored to your liking. The yellow flower can be swapped for a purple flower with a bee buzzing around the scene if you hit the "Customize" button at the top of the screen. If you don't like the default graphics, take a look at all of your options.

Cover screen backgrounds

You can cycle through different screens without looking at the menu. You can wake the cover screen by pressing the screen twice. You can move between the clock and graphical options from here. Sometimes, you want the little bee buzzing around, and other times, you just want it to stay out of sight.

Widgets

On the main cover screen settings menu, you canggling individualwidgets on and off and reordering them. Your choices are listed.

• Weather
• Next alarm
• Today’s schedule
• Timer
• Music
• Calendar
• Direct Dial
• Samsung Health
• SmartThings scenes

You can call up to three contacts from the cover screen if you add Direct Dial to your settings. You can change the order of the Widgets by dragging and dropping them. You don't have to save it when you're happy with it.

Always on display

You can change your cover screen by using the Always on display. If you enable the AOD, the cover screen will light up when you get a notification, but it will time out and turn off completely if you don't. Be careful if you are a power user because it uses more battery.

The AOD can be enabled by going to settings > lock screen > always on display. You can always on display by pressing the Always on display button. To set it to always show the display, you can use the options below. The inner display's lock screen hasClock style and Show music information on it.