How to use any app you want on the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s Cover Screen

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable phone comes with its biggest Cover Screen yet, measuring 3.4-inches. With all of that screen real estate, it’s only natural that you’ll want to do more than look at weather reports, widgets or read notifications on the front display.

And while Samsung includes a setting that lets you use a small selection of apps on the Cover Screen, I highly recommend spending a few minutes to set up a tool that lets you use any app you want, right on the Galaxy Z Flip 5‘s front screen. Keep reading to learn about both ways you can access and use apps on the Cover Screen, and when you’re done with that, make sure to check out all of our Z Flip 5 tips and tricks.

All the ways you can access apps on the Cover Screen

If you head into the Settings app and navigate your way to the Labs section and turn on the Apps allowed on Cover Screen feature (Settings > Advanced features > Labs > Apps allowed on Cover screen), you’ll see a list of the apps you currently have installed on your phone that are optimised for the Cover Screen. The list, on my Flip 5 at least, is very small.

However, by using Samsung’s Good Lock app for the Galaxy Store, along with the Multistar module, you can use any app that’s installed on your Z Flip 5 directly on the Cover Screen.

Here’s the quick rundown of what you’ll need to do:

1. Install the Good Lock app from the Galaxy Store.
2. Open the app, the select Life up from the bottom navigation bar.
3. Scroll down until you find the Multistar module; install it.
4. Once Multistar is installed, open it and then select the I love Galaxy Foldable at the top of the screen.
5. Select Launcher Widget.
6. Finally, add shortcuts to any apps you want to use on the Cover Screen.

Which apps are usable on the Cover Screen, and which aren’t?

I’ve been testing out various apps on the Cover Screen for the last few days, and because it’s still a smaller display, there are some apps that work, and some that you’d be better off to save for the larger internal display.

So far, I’ve really liked using FreshRSS to catch up on my personalised news feed, scrolling through the Facebook app or watching Stories is possible, but once you start tapping into comments or looking at profiles, the experience worsens. Google apps Chrome, Maps, Photos, Messages and Gmail all look and work fine on the Cover Screen as well.

Surprisingly, I can see how or why people would want to watch Netflix or YouTube videos on the screen. Both apps are part of Samsung’s optimised list, and looks surprisingly good.

For apps like TikTok and Instagram I’ve found that the app feels cramped, and you’re constantly looking through the text captions and other information that’s normally more spread out on a larger display. They’re usable, but you’ll grow frustrated, and it’s just not worth the effort. Spotify was similar; I found scrolling through albums and artists to be really frustrating and just not suited for such a small display.

My personal recommendation about how to approach using apps on the Cover Screen is to use it for apps that are mostly text, such as Chrome, Gmail, Messages or your preferred news app. But that’s all thrown off when you use an app like YouTube that somehow looks good and works on the Cover Screen. Indeed, it’s an exception, not the rule.

I encourage you to experiment, give your favorite apps a try on the Cover Screen, and if they don’t look right, you can remove them with just a few taps. There’s really nothing to lose.