fuboTV appears to now support Samsung’s Flex Mode allowing Galaxy foldable phone owners to make use of the unique viewing experience offered with the company’s various Fold and Flip Android smartphones. While not a feature that everyone will find useful, it is a device support improvement that fuboTV subscribers be aware of in general, and especially if foldable phones end up becoming more mainstream in the future as expected.
Foldable phones are still in their infancy, but Samsung does seem to be leading the way. Recently the company announced its latest generation models with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3. All of Samsung’s foldable Android phones come with a flexible hinge and display which results in some unique benefits. For example, sitting the phone down on a flat surface and half-folding the display so that it can continue to be viewed while in an L shape.
When a Samsung foldable phone is positioned in this half-folded way, it automatically enters Flex Mode and adjusts the orientation of the screen to maximize the situation. However, Flex Mode requires an app to be updated to take advantage of the foldable benefit and it now looks like fuboTV’s Android app has been updated with support.
While it remains unclear exactly when fuboTV gained support for Flex Mode, at least one user has found the support is already live and ready to be used. Reddit’s u/DarwinIsMyHomey confirmed the app support on a Galaxy Z Fold 2 and provided an image showing how it looks and works, and what other users can expect if purchasing a foldable phone.
When accessing fuboTV on a non-foldable phone, the app simply splits the screen into two sections where the video plays at the top and the video description is shown at the bottom. Users then need to tap on the video for playback controls. Alternatively, if switching the phone’s orientation to landscape, the video enters a full-screen mode, still requiring taps on the video to show video controls.
With Flex Mode, fuboTV provides the best of both worlds. Essentially, the video occupies the entire top half of the folded screen while the bottom half shows the playback controls. This might seem like a minor change, but it is one that makes watching live TV and on demand content easier as controls for playing, pausing, skipping forward and rewinding, as well as adjusting the volume and brightness, are always visible. Not to mention, the ability to navigate back to the main menu without disrupting playback.
While it is expected that more apps will be updated over time to support Samsung’s Flex Mode, it currently remains to be seen how many live TV streaming service apps do support the feature. Regardless of those other services, it is a nice and useful improvement for fuboTV subscribers who often watch live TV on their Samsung foldable phone.
