How to force apps into full screen on the Samsung Galaxy S8

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a stunning display, but quality is not the only thing that differentiates it from the crowd. The phone is narrower and taller than others, thanks to its 18.5:9 screen ratio. This is an unusual practice, but it makes the phone easier to handle while keeping that Infinity display looking sharp. The only issue is most apps are not optimized for it.

Some applications don’t take advantage of that extra space, leaving weird black bars above the navigation buttons and below the notification area. Thankfully, there is a solution for those of you who find this annoying. Apps can essentially be stretched to fit your screen properly.

Word of warning

Before we show you how this is done, let us remind you this may bring some complications, depending on the app. Sometimes parts get cut off or moved in the process of adapting content to the screen. We didn’t find this to be much of an issue, other than the occasional weird look. However, it is still something that may affect your Samsung Galaxy S8 experience, depending on your selection of applications. With that out of the way, let’s not keep you waiting and show you how to take advantage of that long screen.

Also: Common Samsung Galaxy S8 problems and how to fix them

How to force apps into full screen on Samsung Galaxy S8

1. Go to Settings on your Samsung Galaxy S8.
2. Select Display.
3. Tap on Full screen apps.
4. Toggle on/off to select which apps get to go full screen.

How to force apps into full screen on-the-go

1. Open an app on your Samsung Galaxy S8.
2. Hit the Recent Apps navigation button.
3. When supported, a little icon with a stretching/narrowing screen will show up over the last app. Tap on it.
4. This will force the app to show up full screen (or not full screen, depending on what you want).

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