On Android 14, apps can now take advantage of the foldable phone's outer and inner screens at the same time.

Every foldable phone model today has at least two screens. The external display allows you to quickly access many features without having to open the device.

In addition, companies can add unique features to external displays. For example, on Samsung's Galaxy Z series, you can use the external display as a viewfinder when taking photos with the rear camera, which has significantly better quality than the front camera.

You can also make your external display and main display active at the same time. For example, when you're taking a photo of a friend or family member, you can control the camera on the main screen while the cover screen shows a preview. Thanks to that, both the subject and the photographer know in advance what the result will look like.

Unfortunately, while the Galaxy Z series has the ability to use two screens at once, third-party apps that take advantage of this capability appear to be non-existent. Luckily, this could change with Android 14.

Android 14 adds the ability to use both screens at the same time on foldable phones for third-party apps.

With Android 14, Google has built the necessary APIs so that apps can take advantage of both the external and main screens at the same time. In addition, phone companies must actively integrate this capability into their products. Samsung did so with the One UI 6.0 update for the Galaxy Z series.

I hope developers will take full advantage of this new capability. Google demonstrated an extremely practical use case when it announced the Pixel Fold a few months ago. Google Assistant's dual-screen interpretation mode lets you speak or type on the main screen while displaying translated results on the external display.

It will probably take some time for third-party apps to take advantage of the new capabilities. Folding-screen phones are still not too popular. Besides, Android 14 has just been released. So most foldable phones are still on Android 13, including Samsung's Galaxy Z series. One UI 6.0 for Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 is still in beta for at least a few more weeks.