LG‘s spectacular swiveling phone Wing is picking up a major software update. Rolling out for the Verizon unit, the update brings some much-needed improvements to the dual-screen experience.
According to the official changelog, the new update makes it much easier to switch apps between the two screens. A mere tap on the “Fetch” or “Send” button on the quick settings on the second screen will move apps from one display to the other. You can also swipe with three fingers on the screen that shows the app you want to move.
Since the two screens aren’t of the same size and resolution, many third-party apps may not work as intended when you switch the display. So in case of a poor transition, the phone will show a “Restart app” button on the bottom right corner of the screen for five seconds. Tapping this button will restart the app properly.
The LG Wing now shows app names on the home screen of the secondary display as well. Previously, it only showed the icons due to spacing limitations, as LG says. This made it difficult to distinguish between similar app icons, contact widgets, and shortcuts.
A bubble guide in camera mode now lets you touch and hold the thumbnail to quickly preview the photo you’ve just taken. The latest update also adds a built-in QR code scanner to the Camera app.
Other notable additions include mobile network usage for Setup Wizard completion, a matching 5G icon color, new default wallpaper selection, and media controls for all apps on the second display. Previously, only a handful of apps like YouTube showed media controls on the smaller screen.
LG Wing gets a big software update
LG had high hopes from the Wing phone to revive its reputation as a smartphone maker. However, this swiveling phone has been suffering from poor sales since its launch. According to Korean media, the company has only sold about 50,000 units of the LG Wing to date in its home country South Korea.
That’s only about 25-percent of LG’s initial domestic sales projection of two million units by the end of this year. Global sales have been equally poor as well. And, to be honest, a lot of blame for this goes to a poor software experience that couldn’t fully exploit the device’s unique dual-screen design. The company is now looking to address some of those issues and make multitasking on this phone a lot easier. Hopefully, it isn’t too late for LG.
If you’re using the LG Wing on Verizon, you can check for the over the air (OTA) update by navigating to Settings >> About phone >> Software updates. The latest update comes with software version F100VM10d and also bundles the November 2020 Android security patch. Since it’s a big update, you are advised to connect your phone to a stable Wi-Fi network before downloading the OTA file.