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SamsungGranted patentPhones & computersInterest 7/10

Samsung patents folding phone screen that moves apps between halves

Samsung has been granted a patent for a method that changes how apps appear on a foldable device. When the phone is folded, the system detects the action and rearranges the interface so specific items move from one half of the screen to the other.

Why it mattersThis could make foldable phones feel more distinct from regular tablets by using the physical fold to change what you see.

In the filing’s own words

A user terminal device and a displaying method thereof are provided. The user terminal device includes a display configured to display a first screen on a display which is divided by a folding line into a first area and a second area, the second area being larger than the first area with reference to a folding line and including an exposure area that is exposed while the display is folded along the folding line such that the first area faces the second area, a detector configured to detect, while the first screen is displayed, a first folding interaction of folding the display such that the first area faces the second area and a second folding interaction of folding the display such that a first cover corresponding to the first area faces a second cover corresponding to the second area, and a controller configured to, in response to detecting the first folding interaction, display a second screen related to the first screen on the exposure area, and in response to the second folding interaction being detected, display a third screen related to the first screen on the first area or the second area.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic apparatus comprising: a display which is divided into a first area and a second area with reference to a folding line; a memory storing instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: control the display to display a first screen on the first area and the second area while the display is unfolded, wherein the first screen comprises a plurality of objects, and based on a folding of the display with reference to the folding line being detected while the first screen is displayed, control the display to display a second screen on the first and the second areas of the folded display, the second screen comprising, on the first area of the folded display, a first object of the plurality of objects and, on the second area of the folded display, a second object of the plurality of objects and a third object of the plurality of objects, wherein the second object is displayed in the second area of the first screen and in the second area of the second screen, and wherein the third object is moved from the first area of the first screen to the second area of the second screen.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
User terminal device and displaying method thereof
Patent number
US12769435B2
Application number
19062475
Filed
Feb 25, 2025
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
21

Classified under

G06F 3/0482 Physics & computingG06F 1/1641 Physics & computingG06F 1/1652 Physics & computingG06F 1/1677 Physics & computingG06F 1/1694 Physics & computingG06F 3/04817 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.