How to open any app on Galaxy Z Flip 5’s cover screen

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 finally has a big, bad cover screen that Samsung is calling the Flex Window. It dwarfs the previous Galaxy Z Flip 4’s display and is just begging to be used with full-sized apps. However, the process is easier said than done in most cases and requires a little extra software. If you’ve been waiting for your chance to run Threads, Strava, or any other app on the cover screen, here’s how to do so using Good Lock on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

As mentioned above, Good Lock is the key (pun intended) to open just about any app on the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s Flex Window. It acts almost exactly like the cover screen app drawer on Motorola’s Razr Plus, allowing you to toggle apps in and out of the launcher as needed. While the Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports a select number of apps and widgets by default, Good Lock allows you to expand those horizons to include social media favorites like Instagram and music streaming go-to’s like Spotify.

While Good Lock might seem like an extra hoop to jump through — because it kind of is — the process to install it is actually pretty simple. You’ll have to head to the Galaxy Store (not the Google Play Store) and follow these steps:

1. Search for and install Good Lock from the Galaxy Store.
2. Open Good Lock from your app drawer.
3. Scroll over to the Life Up tab and install MultiStar.
4. From MultiStar, select the I Heart Galaxy Foldable button.
5. Tap the Launcher Widget button.
6. Add your apps to the Launcher Widget.

If done correctly, your process should follow the screenshots in the gallery above. The good news is that there’s only one way to set up Good Lock, so there’s not much room to go astray.

As far as we can tell, yes, Good Lock allows access to any app you have installed on your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. How well that app adapts to the Flex Window’s layout, however, is another question. Samsung’s asymmetrical display means that most apps only take advantage of the rectangle above the cameras, while Motorola’s Razr Plus allows apps to use the entire display, often hiding some extra buttons behind the cameras. The benefit to Samsung’s setup is that you never have to toggle your display to access certain buttons, but the drawback is that you’re permanently packed into a smaller window.

To Samsung’s — or rather Good Lock’s — credit, Spotify seems to adapt better to the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s display as a full app than it does as a dedicated widget on the Motorola Razr Plus. It’s a bit easier to search for artists and playlists using the native interface, whereas the Razr Plus mainly directs you toward your recent artists.

While Good Lock offers a mostly positive experience, there’s one notable exception that we’ve found: Google Wallet. If you want to skip Samsung’s mobile payment experience and use your trusty Google alternative, you’ll have to open up your Galaxy Z Flip 5. It’s not really a surprise that Samsung doesn’t want you jumping to a competitor’s payment platform, but it’s a bit of a headache for longtime Google Wallet users.

You’ll have to do quite a bit of experimenting in order to find the apps that work best, but at least Good Lock opens the door (or window) to the possibility.

If you’ve been around the Galaxy ecosystem for a while, you already know that Samsung uses its Labs menu to offer early — sometimes imperfect — access to some of its latest features. It’s your one-stop shop for most of the Flex Mode settings and is the natural place for Samsung to put its optimized apps for the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s Flex Window. But if you already have to rely on Good Lock for access to your favorite apps, what does Labs bring to the table?

Well, in short, not too much. You can activate a launcher of optimized apps from the Labs menu, but it only supports a few selections like Google Messages, Google Maps, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Netflix. As if Samsung’s limited selection weren’t confusing enough, there’s no way to merge the Good Lock launcher with the Labs launcher, meaning that you either have to pick one over the other or live with two app drawers on your Flex Window.