You Can Try a Foldable Phone (Sort Of) Without Buying a Samsung Galaxy Z
Most modern smartphones look pretty much the same, with a large piece of glass on the front and any number of camera lenses on the back. Foldable phones are the newest and biggest departure from this norm. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is essentially two smartphones glued together to create a single, larger display.
In this configuration lies an opportunity (to make people want to buy a new device): Samsung has created a virtual experience that allows you to connect two iPhones to simulate the display of the Galaxy Z Fold. “Try Galaxy” will show you what it’s like to see two displays combined into one, so you’ll understand everything you can do with this extra screen. (Sorry, Apple).
How to set up the “Try Galaxy” feature
To get started, go to the Samsung Try Galaxy website . The site will show you how to install the web app on your iPhone, but it’s a simple process: just click the Share button on your browser, then choose Add to Home Screen. Give the web app any name (or leave the default “Try Galaxy”), then click Add.
Return to the home screen and open the new Try Galaxy web app. Scroll through the initial setup screens until you reach the main interface, which mimics a standard single-screen Galaxy phone on your one and only iPhone. It will feel a little weird at first, as your iPhone will really feel like a Galaxy device: apps will look different, the user interface will feel both familiar and weird at the same time, and you’ll start to “get notifications” like new texts in Samsung messages. (Of course, this is just part of the simulation.)
Feel free to explore this experience in its entirety. While you won’t have access to all the Galaxy phone’s features, you can enjoy simulated versions of much of the One UI user interface, including Gallery (the Samsung Photos app), Samsung messages, camera, Samsung Health, and even certain menus in Settings. Now, if you have another iPhone on hand, things can get interesting.
How to turn two iPhones into a Galaxy Z Fold
We’ve seen Samsung experience similar to the one above in the past . This time, the novelty gives the opportunity to try out the “Fold Experience”. To do this, you’ll need a second iPhone nearby that also runs Try Galaxy. Place the phones side by side to mimic the look of the Galaxy Z Fold. Click “Fold Experience” on both phones, then select “Yes, we have two iPhones.”
To connect both phones, you need to generate a unique code. Choose which phone will generate the code by touching the left phone on the screen, then choose which phone will receive the code by touching the right phone on the screen. Press “Generate Code” on the first phone to display the code, then press “Enter Code” on the second phone to enter the code. When you’re done, press “Start” on the second phone, and voila! Your two iPhones have become one screen.
The Fold Experience isn’t as detailed as the Try Galaxy general demo, so you only have to try the three main steps. The first is Immersive View, which plays one ocean-themed video on both screens. Looks great, even despite the difference that naturally exists between the two iPhones.
Next, you can try “Multitasking”. Here you will learn how to use multiple apps on both Fold screens. For example, you can run two split view apps on one screen and drag content from one of those apps to a full screen app on the other display.
Finally, there is The Game, which is a simple but fun version of air hockey. One phone’s display shows one side of the air hockey rink, and the other shows the other. You can toss the puck over the fence into another player’s half of the field in hopes of scoring. The effect works well and shows how the Fold can do things that a standard smartphone just can’t.
Of course, there are things that experience will not offer you. Obviously, the Fold folds, and when it does, there’s a single screen on the front that can be used to work with a “small phone.” You also can’t fold two phones halfway to use as a selfie tripod, and other features that can’t be replicated by pairing two iPhones together.
After all, it’s a fun experience that mostly serves as an advertisement for Samsung’s foldable phones. Whether it convinces you to upgrade to a new device or not, it might give you hope that Apple will jump on the folding bandwagon sometime soon.
Interested in switching? Samsung offers two foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 , on which this experience is based, and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 , which is a clamshell version of the foldable device: