7 years of foldables and my Galaxy Z Fold 8 still can?t count screen usage

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Lately, Samsung's been talking about the unification of software and foldable phone hardware, and how foldable form factors naturally led to the creation of unique software features such as Flex Mode.



The vision is sound, but I feel like the execution has been somewhat lacking lately. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 mysteriously missing out on Flex Mode support is a well-documented, if not baffling, fact.



But at this very moment, I'm more interested in the smaller details Samsung seems to be missing.



One UI still doesn't show screen-on times for each panel



There's something that's been bothering me for some time, now more than ever because I've officially become a Galaxy Z Fold 8 user.



There is still no way to check screen-on times for each display on a Galaxy Z foldable phone.



One UI lets you see how much screen time an app has had since the last battery charge. One UI can even show data on screen-on and screen-off times through daily usage graphs. But never for each screen individually.



Mind you, not having this information doesn't make the Galaxy Z Fold 8 a lesser device in the grand scheme of things. And it's not like having that information would change how I use my Fold 8. It would still be the tablet I've always wanted and the compact phone I didn't think I'd want.



Nevertheless, it would be interesting to be able to see usage patterns for each display individually, especially to those of us who sometimes wonder just how much time we've spent on the foldable screen versus the cover one.



It's been seven years since Samsung introduced the original Galaxy Fold and adopted a more out-of-the-box approach to software development for foldables. Samsung's efforts to improve One UI every year are commendable. But a few little things that I think should be a part of the core One UI experience on foldables are still missing.



Speaking of little things, I also wouldn't mind if One UI could tell me exactly how many times I've folded and unfolded my Fold 8. But that feature is way down the priority list, so let's take it one small step at a time.



Hopefully, Samsung will eventually allow Galaxy Z Flip and Fold users to check screen-on times in One UI for each display individually. Nothing like that exists in One UI 9, which I find surprising. But Samsung rolls out two One UI updates every year, so opportunities for change exist.




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