What Are Edge Panels on a Samsung Phone?
Typically, if you want to do something on your phone, you need to leave the current app and go to the next thing. What if you could launch your favorite apps and tasks from anywhere? That’s the aim of “Edge Panels” on Samsung Galaxy devices.
“Edge Panels” are sort of like a mini drawer that slides out from the side of the screen. The common use is for app shortcuts, but it can do much more than that. There are panels for contacts, weather, reminders, tools, and even your clipboard.
In fact, if you want to get really creative with it, you can even download more Edge Panels from the Galaxy Store. People have created Edge Panels for sticky notes, a calculator, a voice recorder, and a lot of other handy things.
Edge Panels provide an easy way to quickly switch to your favorite apps and accomplish other small tasks without leaving your current app. If you’ve never given it a try, you really should.
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How to Use Edge Panels
To get started, swipe down once from the top of the screen and tap the gear icon to go to the Settings.
In the Settings app, select “Display.”
Scroll down and tap “Edge Panels.”
First, toggle the switch on at the top of the screen and then tap “Panels.”
Here you’ll see a scrollable list of the Edge Panels Samsung has pre-installed for you. You can select the ones you want to use and then tap “Edit” underneath to set them up. We’ll use the “Apps” panel as an example.
The top of the Apps panel shows three recently used apps. Underneath that, you can add your own by simply selecting them from the left side. You can have up to 22 apps in the panel.
If you don’t want to see recent apps, tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right and toggle off “Show Recent Apps.”
When you’re done, tap the back arrow in the top left.
Each Edge Panel can be set up in a similar fashion. To add even more, tap “Galaxy Store.”
You can browse through the paid and free Edge Panels available here. Tap the download icon to install, then simply enable them as we did above.
The next thing to do is customize how the handle works. This is what you slide out to reveal the Edge Panels. Select “Handle” to get started.
There are a bunch of options on this screen. You can decide which side of the screen it should be on, lock the handle position, grab the floating arrows to adjust the position, give it a color, and adjust the transparency and size.
If you don’t lock the handle position, you can move it around whenever you want by tapping and holding it.
To actually open the Edge Panel, simply swipe toward the center of the screen on the handle.
Once the Edge Panel is open, you can rotate through the panels by swiping across them horizontally.
Tap anywhere outside of the Edge Panel to close it. You’re all set! This is a really nifty feature that puts your favorite stuff always a swipe away. It’s not something that I see many Galaxy owners use, but Samsung phones have a lot of features.
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