How to Use Always On Display for Samsung Galaxy S10?

First of all, let’s take a look at this: what is AOD Samsung function in general? As you can see from its name, it helps you to always see what’s on the display. Some information, like date and time, notifications, battery level or player with the current track is visible all the time. You can set the desirable information in the menu. So, there is no need to wake up the smartphone every time to check it.

This option on Samsung Galaxy S10 should not necessarily be always on. You can turn it off or regulate it if you don’t need it at the present moment. The certain set of information is shown on the screen, but you can always change it in the settings. Make the alarm, today’s schedule or weather visible. Or perhaps you will choose to show your e-mail address, website or phone number. Contact information will do in case the phone is lost to find its owner.

All the preferred data will be translated on the display in the form of compact information block in the minimalistic design.

Samsung added a few new features and the default state for the always-on display to its Galaxy S10. So, this mode on Samsung Galaxy S10 is not completely identical to that on the previous models of these smartphones.

What is AMOLED?

It is necessary to mention that obligatory condition for the Galaxy S10 always on display to function is the AMOLED display of this model. This means that AOD is available on all Samsung gadgets with AMOLED or Super AMOLED technology. The range of them includes Galaxy S line starting from S7, and also budget series Galaxy A including A50, A40, A30s and even A20. Only ultrabudget A10 model is not equipped with it.

Samsung has brought this technology to the masses. Now a lot of devices from many manufacturers feature always on display out of the box. If you don’t have this option, you still have a possibility to install it on your phone as a third-party application. But remember that using the AOD is not recommended unless your device has AMOLED screen. Otherwise not only the battery life will be much shorter, but also there is a high risk of smartphone screen burn-out.

Always on display lets you save power. If you are not acquainted with this technology, quite logical question arises here: «How is it possible that power is saved, if the screen is always on»? The secret is, as we have already mentioned, that only gadgets with AMOLED matrix are allowed to use it. Their distinctive feature is that every single pixel is illuminated separately. In other words, voltage is imposed not on the whole panel, but on its particular parts.

How is the S10 Always On Display Related to the Lock Screen?

Actually, the AOD screen is the part of the lock screen. Anyway, you should not mix them up, considering that they play different roles.

Among the core differences between the always on display and lock screen are:

Always on display state can be active only during the sleep period of the phone. While the lock screen, on the contrary, appears only when the phone wakes up and is in its locked state.
When your smartphone is locked and the lock screen appears, you can unlock it with help of several options: using the password/PIN, smart lock, fingerprint, or face recognition. Speaking about the AOD, there is only fingerprints option available to unlock it.
App shortcuts can be applied only with the lock screen, but not with the always on display.

If you want to unlock the phone from this position there are a few new ways to do it. The first one is simple move the phone upwards till it is in strictly vertical position. Another way is to tap the screen twice, and there it unlocks. And the third way is of course to press the power key.

Nevertheless, the purpose of the always on display is to allow you to check the most urgent data without unlocking the gadget, so you might don’t need it.

How Does It Differ from the Previous Versions?

As we mentioned above, always on display S10 version is not absolutely identical to all the previous models of this phones. The developers included a few more features.

Tap to show mode. In earlier models of Samsung Galaxy you had the ability either to set the AOD active all the time when the phone is locked. Or else, you could choose the designated period of showing the AOD with automatic scheduler, in case you don’t need it constantly.

Now tap to show is added, which is the default state, be the way. This is one more option of the show mode, which makes the always on display active only after you tapped the screen once. So, be aware that when you turned the option on for the first time and then locked the screen, it will not show up until you tap the screen.

Then the always on display becomes visible for seconds and disappears again. Set another show mode if you want it to be constantly visible or to turn on and off automatically. And keep in mind that if you touch the screen twice, the Samsung Galaxy lock screen will be shown instead of the AOD, so you only have to tap it once.

Landscape mode. Ability to choose the screen orientation between the portrait and the landscape ones becomes pretty handy under particular circumstances, for example, when the smartphone is lying next to you when you are already in bed or when it is on a wireless charger in the horizontal position. One more thing to say here, is that AOD landscape mode does not depend on lock screen landscape mode, or home screen landscape mode, or screen rotation settings.

Brightness adjustment. Separate brightness regulation for the AOD screen can be very helpful in different light conditions.

Quick settings. If you tap the text «Always on display» in common Galaxy S10 quick settings, then you are on the personalized always on display quick settings page. Here you can set one of the three show modes:

Tap to show
Show always
Show as scheduled

If you press Details to the left, you will find the page of the lock screen settings.

By the way, you can have the quick settings for AOD also on Galaxy S9, S8, Note 8 and Note 9 if you update these models to Android Pie.

How to Turn the Always On Display on and off?

There are two different ways at your service to make the always on display option active or inactive:

Go to Settings -> Lock screen.
Press the Always-on display icon in the quick settings panel.

The formally approved way to find AOD Samsung page is to open Settings, then proceed to Lock screen and find Always on display. Toggle the switcher of Always on display, and that’s it. Or press the «Always on display» area to go to the AOD settings, about which we will talk later.

Or you can use the icon of AOD screen in the quick settings panel instead, if it is more convenient to you.

First head into the notification tray on the top of the home screen. Pull down the top of the bar to make it half open and then pull it down a second time to fully open. Now the quick settings panel is opened. Then you will see the plenty of icons where you have to find the necessary one and the only thing left is to press it.

But be careful. The results for tapping the icon itself and tapping the text below it are different in the quick settings panel. In case you touch the text below «Always on display», instead of the icon, you will be directed to the AOD quick setting page instead of turning it on.

FaceWidgets

In general, when the always-on display screen is active, you can see the date and time, indicator of battery level, notification icons and fingerprint icon. Anyway, you still have the ability to personalize them.

To do that, go into Settings, then select Lock screen and scroll till you see FaceWidgets. Actually the list of FaceWidgets stays the same both for the lock screen and the AOD, that’s why this menu item is under the Lock screen division. Mind that you can only put the same settings for both screens.

As you tapped the FaceWidgets menu point, the list of them appears:

Music
Today’s schedule
Next alarm
Weather
Bixby Routines

If you toggle the switchers of the selected widgets, they become available on the lock screen immediately. But you can not make them visible on the always on display until it is actually activated.

Press Reorder in the top right corner to rearrange the order of the displayed icons. Then simply drag-and-drop them as you wish. Now the widgets are on the AOD screen the way you set them.

To further customize the widgets tap twice in the area of the date and time. But be careful: tap twice exactly in this area, otherwise you will go out of the sleep mode and get into the lock screen.

When you tapped the mentioned area twice you now have:

Right and left arrows to switch to other FaceWigdets
Button of changing the screen orientation from portrait into landscape and vice versa
Button of changing the brightness. The brightness is also capable of adjusting automatically to the present lighting conditions.

Always On Display S10 Settings

To get acquainted with the full range of settings for always on display, let’s take a look at AOD settings. Follow the already familiar path Settings -> Lock screen. Than touch the Always On Display field.

In this division you have the options to

Actually turn the always on display mode on and off
Choose its display mode. There are three of them now, as you can remember
Choose the screen orientation and auto brightness, which are the new features
Choose to show or not to show music information

If you turn back to the Lock screen page, you will see a few more possibilities to improve the look in accordance with your preferences. From here you can open the FaceWidgets menu, which we have already discussed. And also customize the date and time settings.

Proceed to the Clock style menu item. At this point you will be asked whether to apply the clock settings to the lock screen or to the always on display. Press Always on display to follow right there.

There are plenty of types for date and time look. Much of them already appeared in the previous versions of Samsung Galaxy. First you are supposed to choose the type. There are options to add pictures, set multiple clocks in case you have to know the time on the other side of the globe, or go with a calendar. Then set the color. There are not so much of them, but you still can choose something that matches your wallpaper.

You may notice that some of the clock designs are equipped with «+» button allowing to add some more details. It serves the purpose of adding your own photos, pictures or even GIF animations to the clock, making the settings even more personalized.

So, tap the «+» to get redirected into the Gallery or Photos to select one of your images. But remember, that you only can select one picture or GIF for the clock style.

By the way, the settings of clock style are separate for the lock screen and the always on display. That’s why it is not very clear why the Clock style division is placed here, but not in the AOD settings.

Always On Display Themes

To change the style of the screen dramatically, you can not only apply the themes set by default, but also try various other themes of the third parties. You will find plenty of them on Galaxy Themes page.

In order to reach it, go with one of the following ways.

Tap and hold somewhere in the blank space on the home screen. Now find Themes icon among those that are displayed and press it.
You are free to set the Galaxy Themes app shortcut as well.
When you are setting the clock style, as we discussed above, note that the last icon in the list of types is actually a redirection to Galaxy Themes division.

All these paths lead to the same Galaxy Themes page. Follow the one you prefer.

Make sure that it is the AODs tab where you are at the moment to select themes for this screen exactly. It is the far right.

Then proceed to Top page and press All. There you will find Paid or Free sections to filter out. Frankly speaking, there is no need to go into paid section, first of all, because there are still lots of free variants. Besides, the paid sample will match only this particular model, so you won’t be able to have them on the future Samsung Galaxy phones.

Select the desired picture to proceed to its detailed information. Normally, two variants of applying the theme are offered: you have the possibility to choose between image only or clock+image modes. So, there will be no clock if you apply the first of them. But all the other details, like weather, music player or fingerprint icon will still be visible if you chose them to be.

As soon as you decided on which option you will install, with or without the clock, press Download. And after the picture is downloaded, you can press Apply to use it right now, if you wish.

After that you will be offered to select one of the above-mentioned modes: image with or without the clock, but only providing that you chose clock+image on the previous step. Now go with one of them and press Done. That’s it.

In case you selected the image only for the first time, but later realized that you need the clock, you only can reapply and start over again.

If you want to change the clock style afterwards (and you already know how to do it), and then set some other always on display theme but the current one, the current theme will be reset and the new chosen time and date design will be displayed already in the default theme.

As the newly installed always on display themes from the third parties are already designed in their own style, the ability to further customize them is not present.

To watch, edit or delete the Samsung always on display themes you have, «My Always On Displays» division is created. It is situated in the upper section of Galaxy Themes page. All the default or newly installed pictures are stored here.

Default, or preinstalled, pictures are impossible to remove. Also it is impossible to remove the installed theme if it is being used right now. When the particular theme is being used, the big white tick on its icon on the Galaxy Themes page will tell you about that. So, you have to switch to some other picture first, in order to delete the installed always on display theme. Your sequence of steps should be the following:

First tap the theme you wish to install instead of the current one and apply it.
Next you will get the obligatory warning message «Set as the default on Always On Display?» to make sure you want to change it.
If you want to set the theme, press Set.

Now, when the new picture is set, nothing restricts you from deleting the previous one. Tap on it and press Delete at the bottom of the page.

What about the Clear View Cover?

First, let’s take a look at what the clear view cover actually is. It is the protective case available for both the S10 and S10+. Regardless of which model you have the concept of this case stays the same.

It looks rather stylish and sophisticated. The clear view cover protects your gadget allowing you to interact with it when the case is closed. The most basic options you will be likely to use are skipping a song or answering a call when you’re on the go. It shields all angles of the phone from bumps, knocks and scratches.

As Samsung have designed this cover specifically for the S10 range it’s tailored perfectly to the device’s features. It means that you can use your phone exactly how you would use it without a case. Advanced features like wireless charging or wireless power share appear to work seamlessly.

This is the only officially recognized cover to work with always on display, so do not assume that Galaxy S10 always on display will not be working.

Since your device is compatible with clear view cover, you will see the additional always on display settings. As soon as the clear view cover is recognized, you will see an entry by the path Settings -> Advanced features -> Accessories. The settings here are not for the AOD screen, but for the lock screen. In fact, they are not specific to the case.

If you don’t want to use always on display together with the clear view cover, you can turn on «Don’t show when cover closes».

However you are going to face a few limitation while using the cover.

If you set the show mode as tap to show, then you cannot tap the cover to show AOD screen. Tap to show only works when you tap the screen. Another thing is that you cannot switch to FaceWidgets of the AOD screen when it is covered with the case. Again, the clear view cover does not accept gestures in the AOD screen.

We hope that not a single question of your is left without an answer and wish you good luck!