A new app is trying to make the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 cover display more useful.
CoverScreen OS is a specialized launcher built to run in the tight confines of the 1.9-inch display on the front of the Galaxy Z Flip3. The app was released this month on the Play Store, 9to5Google reports, and it adds options to access quick settings toggles, view homescreen widgets, manage and respond to notifications, and even run entire apps on the small display.
This adds considerable functionality to the cover display, which is mostly for displaying notifications, controlling music, showing alarms and times, or snapping quick selfies. It can display some widgets, but only a select few.
At present, the app has a number of negative reviews, which cite stability problems. But the developer—IJP—says CoverScreen OS is currently in the alpha stage, so bugs are to be expected. “The Play Store update review process is taking time owing to the pandemic,” IJP says in response to those reviews. “With each update, it’s getting more stable; the latest version is alpha_1.3.7, yet to be approved by Google.”
Despite the state of CoverScreen OS, it has a subscription of $10/month or a one-time $99 fee to unlock all of its features, 9to5Google says. The developer says these fees go toward development of what they admit is a “very niche app.” IJP appears quite active on the project, though, and keeps up an XDA-Developers forum and Telegram group for updates, technical support, and to provide updated APK files ahead of Google Play releases.
Galaxy Z Flip3 owners with security concerns should approach an app like this with some caution. The app requests permissions for Notification Access (necessary for displaying them on the cover screen) and, more significantly, Accessibility Service. On the app’s Google Play listing, the developer explains that Accessibility Service is “exclusively used for interacting with the cover screen of the device.”
