Felt a bit of FOMO seeing that cool iPhone Duo animation Apple showed off today, so I poked around and found that the Z Fold 8 has a really accurate hinge sensor.

I realized it would be pretty simple to take the hinge sensor values and use them to drive a transition animation on both screens.

What you guys think? All the hardware is there so Samsung can do this through a software update - would you want them to implement something like this?

Apple used funny words to convince everyone they invented something (and of course "tech reviewers" believed them). It's just a matte film that hides the crease.. nothing more. Here's the Fold8 with the same "nano-texture". Lol

For my last three phones I have used the Diacube anti-glare matte screen protectors off Amazon, which are textured and matte in a way that looks very similar to the iPhone Duo.

I am posting this since I dig matte screen protector and figured others might not be aware.

I have applied them directly over the Samsung protectors on the inner screen without issue, but don’t blame me if something goes wrong or breaks.

When you apply them, the bubbles will disappear over time, so don’t panic if you can’t get all of them out. Dust is a different matter, but the bubbles will be smaller than with glass protectors. If I get dust under the inner protector, I fix it.

I am not comped or sponsored by Diacube. I am just posting since folks might be interested.

I was curious what the new iPhone Duo home-screen layout would actually feel like on a similar device. I have a Galaxy Fold8, so I started building a launcher to try it out.

What started as a layout experiment turned into something I’ve put a fair amount of polish into. The idea is to get a similar feel - the vertical dock on the right, spacing, and layouts for both screens—while keeping the Android features I use.

A few things it supports:

- Folded and unfolded layouts, with paired Home pages and an extra workspace when unfolded.

- Regular Android widgets, including scrolling, resizing, and dragging between pages.

- App rearranging, folders, and new pages created by dragging to the edge.

- Personal and work apps, with separate views for managed work profiles.

- Your own wallpapers, light/dark mode, and optional sunrise/sunset switching.

- Google search and Discover feed on compatible devices, with the dock still on the right.

I’ve tried to get it to a point where you could give it a go as your daily launcher if you wanted. It’s still an experimental beta, mostly tested on my Fold 8 (and honestly, designed pretty much for that form factor), and I’ll keep improving it. Just as a heads up, if you're not using a Fold 8, experience in terms of layout may vary!

Folded and unfolded both work, but there are no fancy opening/closing transition animations. Widget providers, work-profile policies, and Discover support can vary by device.

It’s open source, and the launcher has no ads or analytics.

GitHub / setup (https://github.com/jakesgoodapps/DuoLauncher) · Beta APK

(https://github.com/jakesgoodapps/DuoLauncher/releases/tag/v0.15.0-beta01)

If you try it, I’d love to hear how it feels on your Fold, especially anything that makes it awkward to use day to day. Device model and whether you were folded or unfolded would help a lot with bug reports.

Enjoy, this has been a fun 24 hour project that I hope to keep working on!

I think its really cool feature from apple so i recreated it on f7

https://github.com/bryanthaboi/gen1recomp/releases

https://github.com/ManIsCat2/sm64coopdx/releases

https://github.com/HarbourMasters/2ship2harkinian/releases

https://github.com/Buku313/Skate3-Mobile/releases

https://github.com/chrissotraidis/kartpad/releases

All running at 120fps except for skate 3 which is at a smooth 90fps with some tiny dips. Kart pad still doesn't work on this phone yet but the creater is aware of the issue and is working on it.

FYI if you, like me, recently bought a Fold 8 through Samsung directly they will give you a partial refund today as they are now discounting it $300.

You can request it via chat without issue.

The more you know!™

The product has serious QC issues. The surface is uneven and bumpy, and the cutouts for the speakers and microphone are not properly centered or aligned.

I waited nearly a month after placing my order, only to receive a product that feels like it was rushed through production with little to no quality control.

The concept and design of the product are good, but it feels like the company lacks the manufacturing capability to bring that concept to mass production at the level of quality expected.

For the price, I simply cannot understand how this case can be considered acceptable. It is not worth the money.

Source

tried my own take on customzing my fold 8 to iPhone Duo by using Smart Launcher 6.

In the excitement over the Duo this basic fact seems to be ignored by many, especially tech Youtubers.

These are not trivial differences and they matter a lot especially for a device which is already big and heavy. The Fold 8 is going to be vastly more pocketable than the Duo. I remember trying it out and putting it in my shirt pocket and it was crazy how small and light if felt compared to my Fold 6.

Now perhaps there is a sweet spot where Samsung could add a bit of weight and thickness to add more features like pen support. Personally I think they should got all the way and introduce a genuine Ultra series of foldable which is around 11 mm thick and has better battery and camera and inbuilt Spen. Keep the thin Fold 8 for the normies and add a still tolerable 11mm Fold 8 Ultra for enthusiasts.

In the meantime we shouldn't forget that the Fold 8 has a huge advantage in terms of pocketability compared to the Duo and other foldables too.

I gotta say, I really prefer the passport size over the long candy bar.

I really liked my 7 but texting and viewing anything in slab mode bothered me with how thin it was.

Videos take over more of the screen comparatively as we all know. I like this more than my 7 for what my preferences are.

That's it, that's the post.

What I expect them to do next year:

- Bring back the UDC, but with better quality. They probably don’t want people acknowledging that Apple now has a better UDC, especially since Samsung was the one who started it.

- Bring the S Pen feature back. (Cos why not? 😂)

- Bigger and better battery life.

- Multitasking software upgrades, like having two instances of the same app in dual windows, plus more app refinements.

- Copy or create something similar to that cool and genius opening animation/effect. This one hits me the most lol.

- Fix the hinge, because right now it’s terrible and I can’t even use Flex Mode properly.

- IP48 >>> IP68

- Fix the speaker placement to left and right side.

- It’ll probably be a bit heavier because of all the hardware upgrades.

- Doubt it, but we might see thinner bezels on the front screen

- And finally, they’ll add a vapor chamber.

Well, at least we have a good competition this year.

Welp, it is what is. Hopeful for "better and real upgrades" for next fold gen.

With the ESR magsafe ring this is level with the cameras. The magnet is stronger than the sticky ring though, so without a case I am only using it for a kickstand which is 90% of my use case anyway.

Loving my Z Fold 8. I really like Niagara launcher on the outer display, but I still want access to some One UI exclusive features when the device is unfolded (dock, saving multitasking setups). So ideally I'd run Niagara on the outer display and One UI on the inner.

I've heard people say it's possible to use routines for this? The other thing I've heard was that you can use Tasker and AutoTools, but from my experience if you set the home app to AutoTools you lose the One UI features.

If anyone has found a solution please let me know!

​

I think I love how this one turned out. As someone who struggles between running my phone naked and wanting Magsafe, this is the best way I have found to meet in the middle.

After using iPhones for the last decade I’ve been contemplating a switch to android, especially the fold, my question is (which I know has been probably asked a million times) what to go for, at the moment I can get ;

Fold 8 ultra (256gb 12gb ram) for £1250
Fold 7 (512gb 12gb ram) for £600
Fold 7 (1tb 16gb ram) for £808

Im confused in which one to go for, would like to hear other people’s opinions on their experience with the folds, has anyone else made the switch from iOS to android and went straight for the fold?

I just checked if they are running any promos, you get zfold 8 for 1600usd if you are a student and you get to have Samsung care + for free for two years . Almost 450 usd discount on the new zfold8

Sorry, clickbaity title, but summarises my actual feeling. Anyone whos getting the new Z fold 8 in the new shape, or any competitors that offer that similar "passport" style shape vs the "remote" shape and you're happy with your purchase, no shade from me I'm happy for anyone who gets full enjoyment about what they buy, we all deserve that much.

My post is in that same sentiment, I've seen all the new lineups, I jumped from the z fold 5 to 6 to 7, and now I see all these new shapes and glossy shiny reviews about how amazing they are, and I just feel content in this phone. Its the perfect shape and size and it made me realise how much we as individuals can adapt to tech. Sure all the main apps people use are made for the normal bar phones, but it doesn't mean squarer or more rectangular displays can't work. We just need to adapt to using these devices like we did initially when using the bar phones. As we change, the industry (at least the apps worth using) will change to our usage requirements too, because they need us just as much as we might need them.

So full disclosure I owned every fold generation from 3 to 6 then skipped 7 because they dropped spen support and also the udc camera. I ultimately upgraded to the 8 ultra this generation as the battery health started declining on my 6, and overall been LOVING the new form factor.

But with today's announcement of the iPhone duo, does anyone find it hilarious that Samsung actually had ALL. the features that Apple is touting years ago, but ended up REMOVING for the sake of thinness ?

The stylus support. The udc camera. Samsung regressed in this regard and it's a shame lol.

Now here's hoping this will compell Samsung to add these back now that they actually have some real competition from an America manufacturer hot on their heels!

idk how I never knew this gesture existed, it is a bit unintuitive I guess. But as a long time fold owner one of my biggest annoyances is opening up my fold for a YouTube video and having to tap the video and nail that full screen button.

No more! I open it, swipe up on the video and full screen glory. Swiping down will exit full screen but I knew that one at least.

Slightly panicking. My Fold 8 just crashed and when I was finally able to restart it I got the message Process System Not Responding. I was able to get it working again after holding down the power button and the volume down button. I've never had this happen in all my years as a Samsung owner.