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(Pocket-lint) - Samsung's Galaxy Flip 3 is arguably the most exciting phone to launch in years, if only because it brought a rugged design and more accessible price to the smartphone market. foldable phones.

And - if you've figured this out - and made the Z Flip 3 your first flexible smartphone purchase, there's plenty of software worth digging into, it's more than just surface level. Watch the video below or follow our written instructions if you find it easier. Let's dive in!

1 - Use cover screen as camera monitor

Perhaps the most useful feature of the small cover screen on the front of the phone is to be able to use it as a monitor for the cameras with which to take selfies. If only because it means you're using the higher quality cameras on the outside, rather than the poorer selfie camera cut into the main display.

To do this - with the phone closed - just press the sleep/lock button on the side twice quickly and it should automatically launch the camera. If not, go to Settings > Advanced Features and tap "Side Key". Make sure "Double tap" is enabled and "Quick launch camera" is selected from the list.

Once you launch the camera, you take a picture by simply tapping the screen, and you'll see a small countdown giving you time to frame yourself before taking the picture. If you want to shoot a video, just swipe left or right until it says "video". To switch between the ultra wide camera and the main camera, swipe up or down.

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2. Use your photos as your cover wallpaper

This year's cover screen is much more useful than the previous version, and it's also in color. If you head to Settings > Cover Screen > Clock Style, it lets you choose between 11 different styles. Some of them have their own animated graphic, but the simpler ones allow you to choose an image to display behind the clock.

To choose your own photo, choose the style of clock you want - the one that doesn't have its own animated image - then tap "Background Image" and select "Choose from Gallery" from the pop-up window .

Now you can choose any image from your own gallery. In fact, you can choose up to 15 of them. When you have the images you want, you can pinch to zoom and frame them the way you want and save them. Now, when you wake up your cover screen, it will display the image you chose, and if you chose more than one, it will cycle through them each time you wake it up.

3. Take hands-free selfies

One of the benefits of having a flexible flip phone is that you can sit it down and take a hands-free selfie. Just open the Camera app, choose your front camera, then put the phone back down with the camera facing you.

Adjust the angle of the screen until you are framed and now all you have to do is show the palm of your hand to the camera. It will automatically start a countdown and take a selfie.

If that doesn't work, open the settings menu in the Camera app by tapping the gear icon in the corner. Swipe down until you see "Shooting Methods" and make sure "Show Palm" is turned on. There is also an option to enable voice commands.

4. Cover Screen Widgets

Besides showing you notifications and a clock, the cover screen also gives you access to a set of widgets by simply swiping left on the screen. It can be weather information, music commands, a voice recorder or a timer. Although a default set is installed, you can choose to replace them with other widgets.

Go to Settings > Cover Screen again and this time choose "Widgets". Here you will see a list of available options and all you have to do is enable the ones you would like to have or disable the ones you don't. And if you tap "Rearrange" at the top, you can change the order in which they appear.

5.Flex mode

For some apps, when you fold the screen into a vertical position, you can view the app on the top half of the screen and a set of controls on the bottom half. It's sort of a beta feature for now, but to try it out, just go to Settings > Advanced Features > Labs, then choose "Flex Mode Panel".

Once you activate the app, every time you open this app and bend the screen 90 degrees, the app rises to the top half and the bottom half lets you control the volume, brightness of the screen, the screenshot and a shortcut to pull down the notification shade.

6. Adapt the sound

A potentially useful feature - depending on your age or hearing - is a sound adaptation feature. Head to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Sound Quality & Effects. Now press "Adapt sound".

In this menu, you can choose one of four preset sound frequency options generically tailored for age groups based on how – on average – parts of your hearing sensitivity change over time.

If you want to take a custom test to see what yours looks like, then create a custom profile, just tap "test my hearing", connect your Bluetooth headphones, go to a quiet room and take the test.

7. Swipe down anywhere for notifications

On the home screen, you should be able to just swipe anywhere on the wallpaper and have it pull down your notifications (you don't have to reach for the top anymore). However, if it's not active, long press on your wallpaper and tap "Settings". Now enable the “Swipe down for notification panel” option.

8. Rotate your home screen to landscape mode

One option that is not enabled by default is to automatically rotate your home screen to landscape mode when you turn on the phone. But you can enable this feature. Long-press your wallpaper and tap "Settings" again. Now activate the switch next to "Rotate in landscape mode".

9. Reverse wireless charging

Since the Galaxy Z Flip 3's battery isn't massive, we don't recommend doing this all the time, but you can use the back of the phone to wirelessly charge other products. This is useful for things like your compatible headphones or smartwatches for example.

There are several ways to use it. You can activate it by dropping your quick settings swatch, swiping over it, then tapping the "wireless power sharing" button. Alternatively, open Settings > Battery and device care > tap "Battery", then select "Wireless Power Sharing" and turn it on.

As mentioned, there is quite a small battery in this phone, so you can set a limit to how much it can be drained by this feature. Just tap on "battery limit" and set it to a percentage that works for you.

10. Limit maximum battery charge

If you stay in battery settings, you will see an option for "more battery settings". There are a number of options here for more or less efficient battery use, but one feature designed to help your battery last longer is the toggle for "Protect Battery".

With this option enabled, your battery will never charge more than 85% and while doing so should not degrade as quickly as if you charged it to 100% every time. This will obviously mean that you will have less battery to play with, so you may need to charge more often.

11. Bedtime mode

One of our most used features on any modern Samsung phone is Bedtime Mode. It lets you schedule a time for the screen to go grayscale as well as disable notifications, to encourage you to turn off your phone and go to sleep. Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls. Now scroll down and select "bedtime mode".

You can activate it manually, or better, activate the scheduled option and choose the time you want it to turn on each night and on which nights it should apply.

12. Change Your Lock Screen Shortcuts

By default, when your phone is locked, there are two icons at the bottom of the screen: phone and camera. If you want to change them to something different, go to Settings > Lock screen and select "Shortcuts". Press the left shortcut and choose from one of the other options that do not require unlocking. You can have a torch, activate do not disturb or the voice recorder or the calculator.

There's also a list of apps you can launch, but these require a fingerprint scan or PIN/password to access.