Early reports suggest the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus may be fragile

Why it matters to you

You’ve already paid $750 for your Samsung Galaxy S8, but you may have to pay a lot more if you tend to drop your phone. The handset is said to be very fragile.

You may have to keep paying for that Samsung S8, even if you paid for the handset all at once. And we’re not talking about the monthly bill from your mobile service provider — rather, it would appear that the new Samsung flagship phone is one the most fragile and breakable handsets ever, which means that you’re likely going to need repairs. And with a phone that costs in the ballpark of $750 to begin with, those additional fixes could add up.

As per a newly posted video from extended warranty service provider SquareTrade, both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are among the least hardy of recent smartphones. In fact, SquareTrade notes, it’s the first phone they’ve tested that has suffered cracks on all sides upon a single drop.

Of course, it comes as little surprise that the handsets are so delicate. After all, that trademark “infinity screen” comes at a cost — and it’s not just monetary. In something of a case study for “form over function,” the almost entirely glass body of the handset makes for a particularly fragile product. But luckily, it would appear that replacement screens for the Galaxy S8 are a bit less expensive than those for the S7, and prices are expected to drop even further as the fervor surrounding the phone wears off.

Of course, keep in mind that “less expensive” doesn’t mean inexpensive. Sure, the replacement screens for the S8 are about $50 to $100 cheaper than S7 replacement screens were at launch, but that still puts the price at around $200 wholesale. The good news, however, is that obtaining the parts needed for a repair is pretty easy, so at the very least, you won’t be paying a ton and waiting forever to get your new phone fixed.

“The price point is good; the repairability is there. Durability-wise, it’s definitely going to break, no question about that.” Justin Carroll, owner of the Richmond, Virginia-based Fruit Fixed smartphone repair shop, told Motherboard. But does that mean that you ought to buy insurance for your phone? Independent repairmen say not necessarily.

“If we can get repair price under $200 you take away all of the value insurance has,” Carroll said. “The only thing insurance can usually beat us on is price point. If they can’t do that, then there’s no reason to have it.”

Vulkan, OpenGL now work with Nvidia’s Shadowplay video-recording tool

Why it matters to you

If you’re into recording your game sessions, Nvidia’s Shadowplay is now much more capable, working with games that make use of Vulkan and OpenGL APIs.

Nvidiareleased an update for its GeForce Experience which will please those who make liberal use of its Shadowplay recording tool. It now has full support for games built on the OpenGL and Vulkan APIs, which means it is now possible to use Shadowplay to record games like Doom and Minecraft, which do not use the DirectX API.

Although there are a number of solutions for recording in-game footage, Shadowplay is aimed at Nvidia gamers who want a simple solution for it, without needing to opt for third-party providers. However, while popular among some gamers, the lack of support for alternative APIs like OpenGL and Vulkan made it non-viable for recording certain games. Until now.

Built into Nvidia’s GeForce Experience, Shadowplay offers quick and easy recording at the touch of a couple of buttons and it is more capable than ever. Introduced along with version 3.6.0, the update also streamlines the upload process, by combining Gallery Upload and Broadcast functions into the same window.

Along with this update, Nvidia has also introduced a few fixes. The frames-per-second counter in Shadow Warrior 2 and HDR mode should now work correctly, according to Anandtech, and the overlay itself should now have much less of an impact on performance. In the header video, Nvidia’s Chris Turner describes recording at 4K 60FPS as having a “minimal” impact on framerates.

The Gallery has also been updated, with Nvidia adding a new upload history tab to it, which shows all of your previous uploads and their location. With support for all of the most popular social networking platforms, Shadowplay is looking to make it easier to organize your content before and after uploading it.

You can even quickly find that particular file on your local system, making it easy to edit them for creating thumbnails or pulling into a larger video.

You will need the latest version of the GeForce Experience to take advantage of this update, as well as Nvidia drivers 385.61 or later.

Microsoft shows wearable that assists graphic designer with Parkinson’s disease

Graphic designer Emma Lawton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago at the age of 29. Now, with the help of a BBC project and Haiyan Zhang, Microsoft Research Cambridge’s innovation director, she’s been able to use a wearable device to reclaim her lifelong passion for drawing and sketching.

The Big Life Fix is a BBC series that got underway Wednesday. Lawton was featured in the first episode of the series, which focuses on people in need who turn to some of the United Kingdom’s top inventors for solutions to problems that affect their day-to-day life.

Other projects being tackled by the show include a solution for a terminally ill photographer who can no longer operate a camera, and the construction of a specialized BMX bike for a child born with no hands or feet.

Parkinson’s disease can cause sufferer’s hands to shake uncontrollably, making even simple actions almost impossible to carry out. Lawton’s tremor was becoming so severe that her career as a graphic designer was in serious jeopardy, according to a report from MS Power User.

Zhang previously created cutlery for disabled people that reacts to their movements to avoid spilling food. Building upon that foundation, she was able to create a wrist-worn device — dubbed the Emma — that helps facilitate drawing and sketching by counteracting the impulses being sent to the wearer’s arm.

The Emma intentionally shakes the user’s arm, interrupting the feedback loop that impedes normal movement. While wearing the device, Lawton was able to draw straight lines, and even write legibly. Since the BBC program was filmed, she’s apparently been wearing the Emma on a daily basis.

Zhang currently has no plans to develop the Emma into a commercial release, having designed the device to fit Lawton’s particular needs. However, she hopes that others will take the basis of the technology and continue to develop it further.

Microsoft featured the Emma during a keynote at Build 2017, showing clips from The Big Life Fix, and inviting Zhang and Lawton up on stage with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“I’m always inspired when I listen to these stories of an individual developer who develops a deep sense of empathy for a scenario, and other human beings, and then goes after it with this most malleable of resources we have — software — and changes the world,” said Nadella, introducing the video detailing the project.

Updated 05-10-2017 by Brad Jones: Added that the Emma device was showcased as part of Microsoft’s keynote at Build 2017.

Microsoft shows wearable that assists graphic designer with Parkinson’s disease

Graphic designer Emma Lawton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago at the age of 29. Now, with the help of a BBC project and Haiyan Zhang, Microsoft Research Cambridge’s innovation director, she’s been able to use a wearable device to reclaim her lifelong passion for drawing and sketching.

The Big Life Fix is a BBC series that got underway Wednesday. Lawton was featured in the first episode of the series, which focuses on people in need who turn to some of the United Kingdom’s top inventors for solutions to problems that affect their day-to-day life.

Other projects being tackled by the show include a solution for a terminally ill photographer who can no longer operate a camera, and the construction of a specialized BMX bike for a child born with no hands or feet.

Parkinson’s disease can cause sufferer’s hands to shake uncontrollably, making even simple actions almost impossible to carry out. Lawton’s tremor was becoming so severe that her career as a graphic designer was in serious jeopardy, according to a report from MS Power User.

Zhang previously created cutlery for disabled people that reacts to their movements to avoid spilling food. Building upon that foundation, she was able to create a wrist-worn device — dubbed the Emma — that helps facilitate drawing and sketching by counteracting the impulses being sent to the wearer’s arm.

The Emma intentionally shakes the user’s arm, interrupting the feedback loop that impedes normal movement. While wearing the device, Lawton was able to draw straight lines, and even write legibly. Since the BBC program was filmed, she’s apparently been wearing the Emma on a daily basis.

Zhang currently has no plans to develop the Emma into a commercial release, having designed the device to fit Lawton’s particular needs. However, she hopes that others will take the basis of the technology and continue to develop it further.

Microsoft featured the Emma during a keynote at Build 2017, showing clips from The Big Life Fix, and inviting Zhang and Lawton up on stage with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“I’m always inspired when I listen to these stories of an individual developer who develops a deep sense of empathy for a scenario, and other human beings, and then goes after it with this most malleable of resources we have — software — and changes the world,” said Nadella, introducing the video detailing the project.

Updated 05-10-2017 by Brad Jones: Added that the Emma device was showcased as part of Microsoft’s keynote at Build 2017.

Microsoft wants to use AI to make workplaces safer for employees

Why it matters to you

Artificial intelligence and object and facial recognition could be used to keep an eye out for health and safety violations in your workplace.

Artificial intelligence is set to make a huge impact on many aspects of everyday life, and Microsoft wants to be at the forefront of this tech as it revolutionizes the workplace. At the Build conference in Seattle, Washington on May 10, the company showcased how AI might make a construction site safer and more productive.

The average construction site is already packed with cameras, and Microsoft is leveraging that fact via its visual recognition software. By associating camera feeds with information about objects and people, the company will offer a platform that allows businesses to monitor work as it happens, and enforce policies automatically.

An on-stage demo saw Microsoft’s director of commercial communications, Andrea Carl, walk through an implementation of the technology. The set-up combined Azure Stack, Azure Functions, Cognitive Services, and commodity cameras, running more than 27 million recognitions every second.

Carl located a jackhammer situated on a similar construction site using a simple written command submitted via a smartphone, specifically, “Where is a jackhammer.” The AI’s object recognition capabilities allowed it to instantly respond with a message indicating that a jackhammer was available on the site.

The platform is also able to monitor which employees are certified to use the piece of equipment, and who handled it most recently, by scanning faces as different people pick up the item. In the eventuality that an employee without the proper authorization picks up a particular piece of equipment, a violation notification will be distributed to the appropriate personnel.

Adding new employees to this system is a snap, as the platform is constantly taking photographs of people who are detected on-site — an administrator simply needs to identify which person is being brought on board from images that have been collected, and then add necessary details like their name and their authorizations. Since cameras are constantly monitoring who is on site, the system can distribute notifications when someone is there who shouldn’t be.

The system can even make sure that items on the site are being stored safely, by referring to tagged locations that are set up for individual tools. We saw a camera spot that a jackhammer had been left leaning against a workbench, rather than lying down, and automatically instruct an employee to remedy the situation.

Microsoft’s other examples of how this technology could be applied include a system for detecting chemical spills, and a method of detecting when hospital patients are out of their beds. Putting this kind of AI into practice requires a lot of infrastructure in terms of cameras, but it clearly offers some major benefits when the necessary hardware is in place.

T-Mobile SyncUp Drive service now lets you monitor up to 24 cars at once

Why it matters to you

If you’ve got a lot of cars to keep track of, T-Mobile’s SyncUp service is here to help. It can now manage up to 24 cars at one time.

T-Mobile, the self-styled “Un-carrier,” is making it easier to keep track of your loved ones — and their hot rods. On Monday, it announced a free upgrade to the SyncUp Drive program that will let current customers track and manage up to 24 vehicles from the SyncUp Drive app.

T-Mobile introduced SyncUp as part of a platform designed to provide “4G LTE connectivity, driving analysis, vehicle tracking, and maintenance monitoring.” It comes in the form of a dongle that plugs into a car’s OBD-II port, and it is T-Mobile’s answer to the connected-car trend: Hassle-free mobile Wi-Fi for any car in your family’s — or company’s — fleet.

Now, SyncUp Drive does more. From the companion app for iOS and Android devices, you can track a fleet of vehicles on a single map — and even customize them with unique icons and colors.

T-Mobile is positioning this as an enterprise feature. It’s easier to manage a fleet of vehicles from the SyncUp dashboard, now, and to route vehicles based on their current location.

“This is what the Un-carrier does — gives you more without asking more! Last month, we gave SyncUP Drive customers roadside assistance, and now we’re giving them the ability to track all their vehicles in one place – all at no extra charge,” John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile, said in a statement. “I know moms and dads are gonna love being able to keep an eye on all their family cars, and businesses are going to have their minds blown by how easy it is to track and manage an entire fleet with SyncUP Drive.”

Otherwise, SyncUp is pretty much the same as it was before today’s update. You can set up geographic boundaries in the SyncUp Drive app that trigger text alerts when you cross a boundary — a useful check on free-spirited teenagers, T-Mobile points out. And you get access to real-time diagnostics and maintenance information, and analytics that warn your about dangerous driving behaviors like speeding, harsh breaking, rapid accelerations, and more.

SyncUp also comes with free roadside assistance. You can connect to a dedicated Allstate Motor Club customer service team member via the SyncUp Drive app, and get tows and tire replacements on demand.

SyncUp is available on a subscription basis. It normally costs $150, but T-Mobile is running a promotion that substantially discounts the price. For a limited time, you can get 2GB of data (or higher) for $48 with a 24-month no-cost finance agreement.

“With T-Mobile SyncUp Drive, you have a new way to ride on America’s fastest nationwide 4G LTE network,” Legere said. “We’re making it radically simpler for customers to connect their cars with a complete, all-in-one package.”

Opera is ‘Reborn,’ with new features that help usher in modern browser market

Why it matters to you

Reborn offers a more modern alternative browsing experience to the likes of Chrome, Edge and Firefox, thanks to some truly unique features.

Opera Software has officially rebooted the Opera browser and relaunched it in a brand-new “Reborn” guise. The Neon-compatible browser brings a fancy new look to the browser market, as well as an ad blocker, virtual private network (VPN) service, and built-in chat functions, all of which could help separate it from the more popular competition.

Although a number of these additions to Opera have been made over the past year, the developers behind it are taking this opportunity to relaunch it officially under the new Reborn moniker. In its breakdown of what the new version represents, Opera claims that it’s time the world rethinks what it means to be a browser — hence the new and innovative features.

Alongside some of the earlier releases, the big feature Opera is touting with Reborn is the built-in chat functions. Tools like Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are now available within the browser itself. No longer do you need to jump to a different tab, or open up a separate piece of software.

Alongside the new messaging abilities, Reborn makes the look of the browser much more personal to the user. Available in two base color themes — light and dark — you can also change the background to one that suits your personal style.

Shaking things up further, Reborn adds a new set of icons to a menu that runs vertically down the left-hand side of the screen. All the icons have subtle animations to make them more lively and visible. Turn on private mode, for example, and a floating hand will pull a virtual shade down over the screen.

Improving its existing ad-blocking function further, the new version of Opera automatically reloads a page when you change your preference. That way, if you want to support a specific site, you can quickly turn off the function, or you can neuter the advertisements on a site that you find particularly intrusive. There are also new ways to manage your lists of whitelisted sites that let you load in lists that are specific to your region or entirely customized.

Other changes include some performance improvements for videos, with the browser sending much more to the GPU for decoding, and some security tweaks, which let you know when a website is less secure than is optimum.

You can find the official download links for Opera Reborn on Windows, MacOS and Linux at the bottom of the latest blog post, or on the official site.

MyKronoz ZeTime hybrid marries mechanical hands with a touchscreen

Why it matters to you

The MyKronoz ZeTime is a smartwatch with analog hands that tick independent of a color touchscreen — the best of both worlds.

MyKronoz may be based in Geneva, Switzerland, but the watchmaker is better known for an expansive collection of digital wearables than luxury timepieces. The company offers an electronic wristband in virtually every flavor, from fitness trackers and heart rate monitors to full-color smartwatches. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, it debuted a world’s first: The ZeTime, a hybrid smartwatch with mechanical hands over a round screen. And now, just a couple months later, the ZeTime has shattered Kickstarter records by raising $5.3 million from nearly 27,000 backers, making it the most-funded project from a European company, and the most-funded hybrid smartwatch ever.

A marriage of analog and digital, the ZeTime boasts a physical “smart crown” and 44mm waterproof (3ATM) stainless steel case “inspired by the finest Swiss design,” and features mechanical hands mounted in a tiny hole in the watch’s 240 x 240-pixel TFT circular display. It’s a boon for battery life: The ZeTime’s mechanical hands move for up to 30 days with a single charge, and continue to tick even when the screen is switched off. And thanks to MyKronoz’s proprietary Smart Movement technology, they automatically adjust the position of the watch hands based on content. Text messages will move so that they’re not obscured by the hands, and the hands will automatically adjust to reflect the local time zone.

The hole’s a minor engineering marvel. According to a MyKronoz representative, the company couldn’t simply drill a hole through the the LCD screen — that’d risk rupturing the internal liquid crystal component. Instead, the display’s driver behaves as though the pixels around the mechanical hands are missing.

Another challenge was the touchscreen. It had to be embedded in the ZeTime’s glass so that wearers could interact with the screen without having to wrangle with the analog hands, a MyKronoz rep told Digital Trends.

“My inspiration has been to combine the best of our Swiss heritage in traditional watchmaking with the key features of a smartwatch to persuade the majority of consumers to adopt our wearable technology,” Boris Brault, CEO and founder of MyKronoz, said in a press release. “This has been accomplished with ZeTime, the perfect hybrid smartwatch. It combines the best of both worlds: watch hands of an elegant traditional timepiece with a full-color touchscreen.”

We had the opportunity to see a pre-production version of the ZeTime at MyKronoz’s Mobile World Congress booth, and came away genuinely impressed. The ZeTime’s stainless steel body is gorgeously finished — especially the silver model. It’s quite thin, and one of the lightest all-metal smartwatches we’ve encountered. In an interview with Digital Trends, Brault said that it took the design team almost a year to settle on a design that balanced smartwatch features with fashion.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

“I wanted a watch that my friends who don’t wear a smartwatch would wear,” he said. “A truly stylish smartwatch.”

The ZeTime runs a proprietary operating system, but it’ll get continuous software updates. At launch, the ZeTime’s heart rate monitor will record beats per minute, but in the months to follow it’ll measure blood oxygen level, blood pressure, and other biometrics.

Brault said the decision to opt for a proprietary solution was motivated by platform agnosticism. “I wanted [the ZeTime] to work as well with iOS phones as it does with Android,” he said. MyKronoz is in talks with Google about Android Wear, the search giant’s platform-agnostic smartwatch operating system, but isn’t ready to make a commitment. “I’m not convinced yet,” Brault said.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The ZeTime is more than just a high-tech analog watch. It boasts a three-axis accelerometer and optical heart rate sensor that can track activity statistics like steps, distance, calories, and minutes of active sleep. And when paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth 4.1, it serves up music playback controls and notifications of incoming calls, messages, weather forecasts, and calendar appointments.

While the Kickstarter campaign for the watch may be over, the ZeTime has now made its way over to Indiegogo, where it has raised more than $5.5 million. The ZeTime has an estimated delivery date of May for customers who participated in the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, and October for Indiegogo backers. Watch strap options will include silicon, genuine leather, carbon-fiber, and other styles of interchangeable straps.

MyKronoz is forging ahead at a time when iPhone maker Apple dominates the industry. According to market research firm Canalys, the Apple Watch accounted for more than half of the 9 million smartwatches shipped last fiscal quarter and generated 80 percent of all revenues. But the company is confident in the market’s growth.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

“When I started in early 2013, people thought that I was mad – why would I start a smartwatch company in Switzerland and enter such a challenging market? It turns out that my vision and passion have paid off, as our company has sold nearly 2 million smartwatches since then,” Brault said. “This disruptive mentality goes beyond the company’s mission to provide ‘smartwatches for everyone’ by striving to become an industry leader on price point, wide range, and fashionable design.”

Pre-orders for the ZeTime are now continuing on Indiegogo, with prices starting at $149.

Article originally published 02-287-2017. Updated on 05-09-2017 by Lulu Chang: Added news of ZeTime’s Kickstarter record and continued success on Indiegogo. 

Knight your home screen with these Medieval wallpapers

Hail, Lloyd, Knight of Order of Android! HAIL!

I, for one, have no interest in going back to the dark ages, but it’s important to remember its history and lessons so we never repeat them. There’s also a certain romanticism from that age, of knights and dragons and wizards and big, honkin’ swords… and princesses locked in towers wearing amazing silken gowns. Trust me, this princess can rescue herself, but she wouldn’t mind wearing a crown and a ball gown every now and then.

Onward, to battle! I mean, to wallpapers!

Seven Deadly Sins is an anime take on the concept of holy knights fighting monsters and twists it up a variety of ways. We have knights that are feared as traitors and army-killing monsters that are actually the good guys. We have pompous, traditional-looking “holy knights” that invoke God even as they kill innocents and take on power from actual demons. The leader of the good guys, the most powerful knight of the most powerful order of knights in the land, twists our notion of a master knight two ways: he’s a seemingly young man with a naive smile and under that dapper little smile is the power to destroy countries single-handedly.

Melodias is a powerful knight who knows the value of restraint, compassion, and camaraderie. And he makes an awesome wallpaper.

Meliodas Minimal Wallpaper by Max 028

As a Disney fan, it’s hard to think of knights and wizards and Medieval times without this gruff little asshole popping into my head. Archimedes is the pragmatic realist counterpoint to Merlin’s futurist fantasies and idealism, and that little owl is part begrudging pet, part wizard wrangler, and part flying reference guide. He doesn’t suffer fools and the only eyebrows angrier than his I’ve ever seen were on another know-it-all who likes to yell at people: The Doctor.

Archimedes by nerdeeart

Narsil is a sword with more than enough lore and power to stand on its own. The legendary blade that cut the ring off Sauron’s hand and saved Middle Earth was shattered and spent an age sitting in pieces on a stone statue rather than trapped in a boulder, but damn if this isn’t a stirring sight. Quick! Clear your afternoon and pop some popcorn! It’s been over a year since I watched the Extended Editions!

Nasril in the Stone by EpicLoop

Castles are awesome, and while some castle may be less intimidating than others, the castles of Medieval Europe are as majestic as they are battle-ready. And while this rendition of Camelot, King Arthur’s castle, is supremely beautiful, seemingly floating in the middle of a massive waterfall, it’s also a castle that’s ready to handle an onslaught. Even if you could fly past that behemoth of a moat, the walls are thick, the turrets high, and there’s plenty of positions to place archers for distance defense.

Camelot by TobiasRoetsch

This week King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hits theaters this week, and while there are many powerful posters out there, this one by RicoJrCreation on deviantart is just spectacular, from the lighting and shadows to the sword motif throughout. It’s a bit tall for most phones, but it fits damn near perfectly on the Samsung Galaxy S8, and it puts the King Arthur logo on the sword’s hilt right under the home button.

King Arthur Poster Art by RicoJrCreation

How to use Multi Window on the Samsung Galaxy S8

Make the most out of the Galaxy S8 screen with Multi Window mode.

Samsung has been offering a Multi Window mode for several generations now, and the Galaxy S8 with its extra-tall 18.5:9 panel takes full advantage of the feature. With a 5.8-inch panel on the S8 and a 6.2-inch screen on the S8+, there’s plenty of room to scale two apps and use them side-by-side.

The feature offers significantly more functionality than what’s included by default on Nougat, and although every app doesn’t support Multi Window mode, you can easily see the ones that do from the multitasking pane. Here’s how to set up and use Multi Window mode on the Galaxy S8.

• How to enable Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to launch Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to adjust window size of Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to invert app windows in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to maximize an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to minimize an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8
• How to close an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

How to enable Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

The easiest way to enter Multi Window mode is by long-pressing the Recents key while within an app. But to do that, you’ll have to first enable the feature from the settings:

Open Settings from the app drawer or home screen.
Navigate to Advanced features.

Tap Multi window.

Toggle the Use Recents button to enable Multi Window mode.
Hit the Use Recents button.

Select the view you’d like to use with Multi Window.

Selecting Split screen view will automatically resize the app you’re currently in to fill the upper half of the screen. With Snap window, you can select an area of the app to dock to the screen. If you already have the app you want to use in Multi Window open, you can now just long press the Recents key to resize it, and then choose the second app you want to use.

Here’s how it works with split screen view:

Press and hold the Recents button while in an app to activate Multi Window and resize it to the top half of the display.
Select the second app from the list of recent apps or use the More apps button to add it to split screen view.

Resize both windows by dragging across the middle line.

Snap window has similar functionality, but you’ll be able to choose what part of the app you want to dock to Multi Window:

Press the Snap window button from the recent apps menu.
Select the area of the app you want to use and hit Done.
Choose the second app you want to use from the recents menu or from the More apps button.

The first app is now pinned to the top, while the second app fills the rest of the screen.

You’ll be able to exit Multi Window mode by pressing and holding the Recents key.

How to launch Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

You can also use the Recents menu to launch Multi Window mode.

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button (the icon that looks like two boxes stacked on top of one another).

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Like before, you’ll be able to exit the Multi Window mode by pressing down and holding the Recents key.

How to adjust window size of Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

Once you have Multi Window mode up and running, you can resize both windows according to your needs. Here’s how to adjust window sizes in Multi Window mode:

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button.

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Press and hold the Window controls icon (the small white line on the window border).
Drag a window up or down to scale it.

Let go of the icon to set the window sizes.

How to invert app windows in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button.

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Press the Window controls icon (the small white line on the window border).
Select the Switch windows button (the second icon in the menu).

You’ll see that the apps’ positions have inverted.

How to maximize an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button.

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Press the Window controls icon (the small white line on the window border).
Select the Pop-up window button (the third icon in the menu).

Doing so removes the second app from the bottom of the screen and creates a floating window that’s on top of the first app. Select the Maximize icon (the middle one in the title bar) to scale the app to its full size.

When using the pop-up window option, you’ll be able to adjust the size of the floating window. For instance, you can get the calculator app running in a floating window while browsing a document to do quick calculations.

How to minimize an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button.

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Press the Window controls icon (the small white line on the window border).
Select the Pop-up window button (the third icon in the menu).
From the floating window, select the Minimize button (the first icon in the title bar) to shrink the app to a Facebook Messenger-style chat heads icon.

Tapping the icon will once again launch the floating window.

How to close an app in Multi Window mode on Galaxy S8

Press the Recents key to access the list of recent apps.
Select the first app by pressing on its Multi Window mode button.

Now select the second app by either browsing from the list of running apps or using the More apps button.

Press the Window controls icon (the small white line on the window border).
Select the Close button from the menu (the rightmost icon).

Doing so will close the window that’s highlighted by the blue border, and scale the other app to its full size.

Your thoughts

That’s a quick look at how Multi Window mode works on the Galaxy S8. Let us know what you think of the feature in the comments below.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

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