When your phone is closed

You can do a lot on the external display.

Swipe for settings, apps, notifications

If your phone is locked:

  • Swipe up to unlock
  • Swipe down for quick settings

  • Touch an icon to peek at the notification. Then:

    • Touch down arrow to see bundled notifications or more notification info.
    • Swipe the notification down to close.
    • Swipe the notification sideways to dismiss.

If your phone is unlocked:

  • Swipe up to view notifications
  • Swipe left for app/contact shortcuts or dialer
  • Swipe right to open the camera (To learn more, read help in Camera app.)

Use other gestures

Twist the phone twice quickly to open the camera.

To learn about camera features, read the Camera app's help.

Add/remove app shortcuts

Add shortcut

  1. Unlock and swipe left.
  2. Touch Manage apps.
  3. Touch app icons to add.
  4. When you're done, touch .

This is a curated group of apps that work well on a smaller screen. Other apps may not display as expected.

To allow app shortcuts for any installed app:

  1. Unlock and swipe left.

  2. Touch Manage apps > See more.

    You can now add shortcuts for any installed app.

Remove shortcut

  1. Touch & hold the icon.
  2. Touch .

Add/remove contact shortcuts

  1. Unlock and swipe left twice.

  2. Adjust shortcuts:

    • To add, touch Add shortcuts, select the type, then select the contact.
    • To remove, touch & hold the icon, then touch .

Control media

To access the media player:

  • When the screen is off, press the Power button to wake it and access media player controls on the lock screen.
  • When screen is unlocked, swipe down to access media player controls in quick settings.
  • You can use the Volume buttons to change tracks.

Answer or make calls

Task Gesture to use
Answer call Flip phone open
End call Flip phone closed
Make call You can use Google Assistant, or swipe left twice to access the dialer or your contact shortcuts.
See more options during call Tap the display

You can change how your phone handles calls when you flip it open/closed.

If you reject a call, you can send a quick text message from the external display.