Google Play Books finally lets you use your foldable like an actual book

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since Samsung released the original Galaxy Fold. In that time, this device category has matured rapidly, giving us more refined and reliable hardware in the form of the Z Fold 4, to say nothing of greatly improved software thanks to Google and Samsung’s efforts. However, one pain point from the early days of foldables has still persisted: eBook apps. With a large display that can fold in the middle, it seems obvious that we should be able to read books in a dual-column view, mirroring what we get with a real paper-and-ink book. While that sadly hasn’t been the experience so far, we’re finally seeing it change with the latest update to Play Books.

Whether you use Google Play Books or the Kindle app, reading layouts have been inconsistent on foldables since the beginning. Kindle restricts you to a single column no matter what you do, while Play Books has only offered a dual-column mode when the device is in landscape. Last week, Google rolled out Play Books version 2023.4.3.0.4, and among the usual bugfixes, we found a welcome surprise: dual-column in portrait.

Once you’re running the latest version of Play Books on your Galaxy Fold, all you need to do is slightly close the hinge, just enough that the hardware can detect it, and your book will split over the two sides of the screen. I find reading like this easier than having one wide column, and I also prefer to use my Fold in portrait rather than landscape, so this is something I’ve been longing for.

This implementation isn’t perfect, though. While I don’t mind mimicking an actual book by having my phone slightly folded, there are some compatibility issues to remember. Samsung’s hinges are fantastic at holding almost any position you put them in, but the same can’t be said for foldables from other manufacturers. If you’re using a foldable that doesn’t have Flex Mode or some equivalent, keeping the hinge in place the whole time you’re reading won’t be comfortable, and you’ll likely have to settle for using it in landscape like before. This pickiness aside, it’s good to see this kind of major improvement here, and I hope the more popular Kindle app follows suit one day soon.

The updated Play Books app should be available through the Play Store, but you can always grab it from APK Mirror if you’re feeling impatient and need to sideload it.

Thanks: Millie Kew-Denniss