The S Pen bundled along with Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy Note 9 flagship will soon support third-party apps, the company confirmed Thursday. The ninth generation of the seminal smartphone lineup debuts its first-ever stylus with Bluetooth capabilities, with Samsung opting to utilize Bluetooth Low Energy to provide users with a wide variety of new remote features. While the tech giant’s first-party apps such as Video and Music will be compatible with those functionalities out of the box, third-party developers will be given the opportunity to embrace the same technology “later this year,” though Samsung has yet to attach a specific timeframe to that promise.
Third-party Android app support will likely debut in the form of a dedicated S Pen API that should allow developers to make their software remote-controllable but the actual volume of games and other apps that will utilize that feature will certainly depend on how commercially successful the Galaxy Note 9 ends up being. With this year’s Galaxy S9 line selling below the firm’s expectations, success is not guaranteed, as evidenced by the fact that Samsung’s pre-order promotions for the Galaxy Note 9 are significantly more aggressive than what the company has been offering in recent years, going up to $300 in value in certain countries.
While the new S Pen can function as a remote controller, its basic drawing and note-taking capabilities still don’t require it to be charged ahead of use. As for the former, a 40-second charging episode will provide you with up to 30 minutes of use, or approximately 200 clicks. The Galaxy Note 9 is already available for pre-orders in select markets such as the UK, with Samsung and wireless carriers in the U.S. being set to start receiving advanced orders from tomorrow. The 128GB variant of the device is priced at $999, whereas the 512GB model that also ships with 8GB of RAM features a $1,249 price tag. Samsung will be releasing the Galaxy Note 9 on August 24.