Galaxy Z Fold 7 – 10 Tips You’ll ACTUALLY Use Every Day

So now that I had some real time with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, I've narrowed down 10 tips and tricks that you'll actually use. Let's get right into it. Hey everyone, it's Renz. Welcome back to the channel. This is one of the first settings that I changed on the Fold 7 and it's one of those features that make a difference. So normally if you're using an app on the big inner screen and then you close the phone, it just locks by default. But with this turned on, you can pick right where you left off on the cover screen. You can find it in settings, display, and then continue apps on cover screen. I keep mine set to always and with that, you can basically continue apps on the cover screen all the time. You also have the option to swipe up to continue. That way the app stays loaded, but you have a second to decide if you actually want to keep using it. It's a small setting, but once you get used to it, it's very hard to live without. Now I don't know why Samsung still does this out of the box, but the app drawer is a complete mess. When you're scrolling through, there's basically like no order, just whatever apps are installed most recently sitting. So one of the first things that I do is sort it alphabetically. It's super simple. Just swipe up into the app drawer, tap the three dot menu in the bottom right, and select alphabetical order. It instantly cleans things up and makes it way faster to find what you're looking for. And yeah, it does switch to vertical scrolling, which might feel weird if you're coming from older Galaxy phones, but honestly, once you're used to it, it feels way more natural, especially with a tall phone like this. This one takes literally 10 seconds to change and makes your fold feel way more organized. Okay, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not really a big fan of the three button navigation, especially coming from an iPhone user. It's turned on by default, but you can change to gesture navigation, which I think is a lot better. It frees up space and honestly just makes the whole phone experience a lot smoother. Just head into settings, display, navigation bar, and change from buttons to swipe gestures. Now you got basically full screen gestures. Swipe up to go home, swipe up and hold for recents, and swipe from either edge to go back. Now here's a bonus tip. When you enable gesture nav, it also activates circle to search by default. So now just press and hold on the bottom bar and your screen will glow. Now you can draw a circle around any image, object, or text and get instant results. I use it constantly when I'm shopping, identifying shoes, for example, or referencing products. Now this one is a small change, but honestly, once you're used to it, there really is no going back. The full screen is great until you try to reach the top corner with one hand, especially on the cover screen where the phone is super tall and narrow. One handed mode fixes that instantly. It brings everything down into reach with a single gesture, and it's something I use way more than I expected. Turn it on, head to settings, advanced features, one handed mode, and toggle it on. I set mine to activate with a swipe down on the bottom gesture bar. Fast, fluid, and doesn't interrupt anything I'm doing. Once it's active, the screen shrinks down to the lower half, making it easy to tap buttons, swipe, or reach the top search bars with just your thumb. I use it all the time when I'm like walking, or like I'm juggling a camera with one hand and the phone with another, or just checking something like super quick. It's really clutch. And then when you're done, just tap outside the shrunken screen and everything goes back to normal. It's a simple feature, but for a device this size, it's essential. Now this next tip is a total workflow hack. If you use the same two apps side by side, like Instagram and Chrome, or even YouTube and Chrome, you don't have to open them one by one. Instead, all you have to do is set up app pairing and pin it to your taskbar or edge panel. Open both apps in split screen mode, then tap the three dot handle in the middle of the divider, and hit add app pair to edge panel, which you can also turn on in the settings under edge panel. And now basically this combo is safe. So next time, all you have to do is just swipe to reveal the edge panel, and all of your app combinations can be accessed instantly. I use this constantly when I'm watching a video, I'll have Chrome open for research, or when I'm replying to emails, I'll keep Gmail and Calendar paired so I can check dates without bouncing around. If you're serious about multitasking, this is one of the cleanest ways to do it. All right, so next tip, let's talk all about customization. One of the first things I did after setting up my Fold was install Everything Widgets and the Nothing Icon Pack to give it a clean, minimal, distraction-free look. And now my home screen feels way more personal and dialed in. Everything Widgets is one of the best widget packs I've tried. You get over 140 custom widgets from digital and analog clocks, to battery and weather indicators, to functional widgets like calendar, contacts, to-do lists, and a lot more. It also works natively. All you have to do is just long press on your home screen, tap widgets, and add them like you normally would. And I know a lot of you guys have been asking what icon pack I use, I'm gonna link it down in the description, but this one is called Nothing Icons Pack. And you get this consistent monochrome aesthetic that's not just aesthetically pleasing, it's also less visually noisy. It comes in light and dark mode as well. What I love about this icon pack is that it supports a ton of apps, whether you're in light or dark mode. Also, if you purchase this icon pack, you get a ton of wallpapers to choose from as well, which I think makes this icon pack worth it. Okay, and let's talk wallpapers, because a lot of you guys have been asking about that as well. If you're someone who's always tweaking or organizing your home screen, this wallpaper pack from Robert McComb is awesome. It comes in desktop and mobile if you want to check it out. Now, I know this is a paid wallpaper pack, but I also love supporting creators, because I also make my own wallpaper packs, and I know how hard it takes to make them. So if you're interested, go ahead and check out his wallpaper pack. So out of the box, Samsung has a setting called cover screen mirroring turned on, which basically means whatever layout you have on your main screen gets mirrored to the front. To change this, all you have to do is long press anywhere on your home screen, go to settings, and look for cover screen mirroring. Toggle it off, and now you can customize each screen independently. Plus when you pair this with the icon pack and the widgets that we discussed earlier, it just makes your device feel way more personal and purposeful. Okay, so this next one is for my fellow iPhone users out there. So you can now get iMessage on Android, and it's actually good. It's called OpenBubbles, and it's a clever workaround that lets Android users tap into iMessage if you have a Mac at home. You install the OpenBubbles server on your Mac, and it acts as a bridge between your Fold and the iMessage app running on macOS. Once it's set up, the messages sync right to your Fold through a secure app interface. Now, I know it sounds complicated, but the setup actually just takes a few minutes. And once it's running, it's surprisingly stable. I can send and receive iMessages from my Fold without ever picking up my iPhone. However, do note there are still a few quirks, things like image previews being delayed or reactions sometimes showing up as text. So if you're thinking about switching from iPhone to Android, it's definitely possible because I know a lot of people don't want to switch, whether it's because of iMessage or AirDrop. But now it can basically be solved with a couple of apps. So if you don't mind a little tinkering and iMessage on your Android, I highly recommend checking this one out. So the cameras on the Z Fold 7 are actually really good. The under-display one, not so much. But here's a cheat code. Use the rear cameras for your selfies. Just open the camera app and tap the little icon in the top corner that says selfie. And then what that does is turn the front display into a live viewfinder, so you can frame your shot while using the main camera sensors on the back of the phone. The difference in image quality is night and day, sharper details, better dynamic range, and more accurate skin tones, all without needing a second person or mirror setup. Now I've been using this all the time, whether I'm shooting content, taking selfies, or even just travel photos. It's a super underrated trick, but it's literally one of the best ways to get pro-level results from your camera. So one of the best low-key features of the Fold 7 is something that I didn't think about at first, but now I use it all the time when I'm watching videos. So when you're playing a video like on YouTube or Netflix, try this one out. Just fold the phone halfway and prop it up on a desk or table. The Fold automatically switches into flex mode, so the top half becomes your screen and the bottom half turns into a built-in control panel, complete with all your controls like play, pause, scrubbing, and next video buttons. It's basically a hands-free setup without needing a stand. I do this all the time whether I'm eating lunch, working at my desk, or even on flights. And the best part, it works with a ton of apps, not just YouTube. Try it in Chrome and you get a touchpad which allows you to use your Fold like a mini laptop. It's a pretty neat feature that's actually convenient when you need it. And that's it. That's 10 tips that you'll actually use on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. I know there are a ton more tips and tricks out there, but I narrowed it down to these 10 that I feel like would be valuable for you. If there's a Fold feature that I didn't mention that you think is like valuable as well, drop it in the comments. I'm always willing to try out new ones. And if this helped you out, hit that like, subscribe, and follow for more tech content just like this one. I appreciate you guys for watching, and I'll catch you in the next one. Peace.