External display

In Settings, you can adjust what is shown on the external display and what happens when you fold the phone or flip it open/closed.

Change the look

The easiest way to change how your screen looks is to touch & hold a blank space on the home screen of your external display.

You can also change the look in Settings.

Change wallpaper, clockface, general appearance

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Lock screen or Home screen.

  2. If your wallpaper shows app icons on the home screen, you can change them.To change which apps show on the external display home screen, tap an existing app to remove it, or tap to add an app.

  3. To change the clockface or the general appearance, tap Themes.
  4. Tap icons to change wallpaper, font styles, and colors.
  5. If you chose Lock screen, use the slider to blur the background image as needed for privacy.
  6. Tap to save changes.

Change display or font size

  1. Go to Settings > External display.
  2. Tap Display & Font Size.
  3. On the External tab, move the sliders or tap +/- to adjust sizes.

Change background image for music player

You can change the skin for your music player.

  1. Go to Settings > External display.
  2. Tap Music player.
  3. Swipe through music player skins and tap the one to apply.
  4. Tap when done.

Allow app transition from internal to external display

When you flip the phone closed, your screen automatically locks, and when you unlock the external display, you are back on its home screen. If you want to keep the external display unlocked and continue using the app on it, then set the app to transition.

  1. Go to Settings > External display.
  2. Tap App settings.
  3. Next to the app name, tap settings icon.
  4. Turn Allow on external display on .

  5. Select how you want the app to transition between screens when you flip the phone closed:

    • To slide the app's icon on the external display to continue using the app after you flip closed, select Manual transition.
    • To automatically see the app on the external display after you flip closed, select Auto transition.
    • To allow the app only on the external display, select Don't transition.

Change what happens to calls when you open or close phone

Flip your phone open to answer an incoming call, and close it to end a call.

To change how your phone handles calls:

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Call settings.

  2. Adjust settings:

    • If you don’t want to automatically answer a call when you flip your phone open, turn Flip open to answer off .
    • Set Flip close action to either disconnect or continue the call when you close the phone.

Change sleep display

Sleep display lets you peek at the time, check notifications, and control media that's playing, using very little power. You can customize how you interact with the sleeping display.

Choose what makes the display appear

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Sleep display.

  2. Select the gestures you want to turn on the interactive sleep display:

    • To tap the display (internal or external) to see it, turn Tap to show on .
    • To move your phone to see it, turn Lift to show on .
    • To wave your hand near the external display to see it, turn Move to show on .

Turn Sleep display off or on again

If you want to skip Sleep display and instead go directly to the lock screen, you can turn Sleep display off.

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Sleep display.

  2. Turn Use Sleep display on or off.

    If you turn it off, you can't use Desk display.

Use Desk display

You can partially fold your phone, like a tent or a stand, and then show a clock or display a carousel of pictures or text, which rotates items randomly each minute.

Change what shows in each mode

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Desk display.
  2. Tap Tent or Stand and turn that mode on .

  3. For each mode (Tent or Stand), select what you want to see:

    • Choose between Clock or Text & picture carousel.

      For the carousel, you can select which sets of pictures to include. Use the checkmark to include/exclude an entire set. Or, tap a set and choose a single item. To add a set of your own photos, tap plus icon.

    • To see icons when a notification arrives, turn Show notification icons on . Keep it off if you don't want notifications to interrupt your display.
    • To see album art when you're listening to music, turn Show album cover when playing music on .

Approach to converse with AI

You can move your hand close to the external display to get to your lock screen, where you can use Face Unlock to unlock handsfree and start a conversation with AI.

  1. Be sure you've set up face matching and turned on Skip lock screen.
  2. Go to Settings > External display > Desk display > Tent or Stand.
  3. Tap Approach gesture and turn Approach to show lock screen on .

You can also set your phone to silence calls, alarms and timers when you're in desk mode (tent or stand).

Add custom text and pictures to carousel

Add your favorite pictures. And why not add a few custom messages to the rotation, jokes or inspirational quotes?

  1. Go to Settings > External display > Desk display > Tent or Stand.
  2. Select Text & picture carousel.
  3. Tap plus icon, enter a name for the set, and tap Save.

  4. Add content to the set:

    • To add a photo from your phone, tap plus icon > . To add one stored in the cloud, like Google Photos, tap more options icon > Cloud media app and select the app. (The first time you use it to create a set, tap settings icon > Allow.) Select one or more photos and tap Add.
    • To add a custom message, tap plus icon > , then enter some text. You can optionally add a name, tap a color to change the font, and use sliders to adjust font size, weight, alignment. Tap to save.

Extend battery life and protect your screen

To extend battery life and to lessen the risk of burning an image into the external display, keep Dim pictures & album covers on for both Tent and Stand modes. (Settings > External display > Desk display)