The Pixel 9 Pro Fold gains one of the Galaxy Z Fold’s best features

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is finally available on store shelves, and there’s no shortage of new software features on offer. However, the device has also gained a popular foldable phone feature that’s been around for a few years now.

We can confirm that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold now supports app pair functionality. For the uninitiated, this means that you can save two apps running side-by-side as a pair for quick access. So if you frequently run Chrome and WhatsApp side-by-side, you can save this combination as a shortcut on your home screen. That way, you simply have to tap the shortcut in question to launch the two apps side-by-side.

Activating app pair functionality is pretty easy on the new Pixel foldable, as the image below shows. You need to enter the recents menu when you’re running two apps side-by-side. From here, you need to tap the “Save app pair” option below the app windows to save this app combination as a home screen shortcut.

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority

Google isn’t the first manufacturer to offer this capability, as Samsung offered this option on conventional phones back in 2017 before bringing it to foldable devices. Microsoft also offered this on its Surface Duo devices back in 2020 and 2021. More recently, last year’s OnePlus Open also offers this option. Nevertheless, we’re glad to see Google bringing this option to its foldables as stock Android still lags behind One UI when it comes to foldable-specific features.

Android 15 itself also has app pair capabilities, so there’s a good chance that many more foldable phones will gain this feature in the coming months.

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