Various device forms have always been a major feature of the Android ecosystem, especially with the emergence of the foldable screen, the same device can switch to different forms, which brings new possibilities for mobile office innovation.
— Wu Zengying, General manager of Overseas Business Department
WPS Android version is an integrated office software of Kingsoft office, focusing on mobile office experience. Lighter, more efficient, and real-time collaborative office experiences have always been the team’s goal.
With the advent of the foldable screen, the team was quick to see the possibilities — a device that folds as a straight-panel phone but expands to become a tablet — and that can be switched on at any time to bring a whole new experience to mobile work.
The folding device can switch between folding and expanding at any time
To ensure the user gets the best experience when the device is folded and unfolded, the WPS app automatically matches the appropriate navigation mode based on the device’s shape. The navigation appears at the bottom of the screen when the device is folded, just like the traditional portrait experience. When expanded, navigation appears on the left side of the screen, allowing the user’s left hand to navigate the menu with minimal movement.
The larger screen also makes it easier to navigate through documents. Whereas portrait phones used to have only two Windows open at the same time, four can now be opened at the same time, and inserting images into different documents is a simple drag and drop process.
Four Windows can be opened at the same time
In addition to the two forms of folding and unfolding, foldable devices also have a new form — half folding. For this new format, the team worked on a slideshow mode: the top half of the screen showed slides, while the bottom half of the screen showed the user’s own notes, and the top half of the screen also had comments. By dividing the upper and lower screen functions, users can be more focused and efficient during speeches. Even if the user changes the phone’s folding state, the content automatically ADAPTS to the screen, leaving the projection unaffected.
△ WPS ADAPTS the slide show mode for the half-folded state
Between September 4 and 16, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 saw a 15% increase in the per-capita reading time of documents using WPS compared to those on the regular model. WPS ADAPTS to foldable screens to significantly improve the user’s mobile reading experience.
— Ning Zhang, Director of overseas products and commercial Marketing
In adapting the foldable screen, the WPS team praised Google’s documentation, powerful development tools, and Android Jetpack. ConstraintLayout is used to quickly implement responsive layouts that fit different screen sizes on foldable devices, and Layout Inspector is used to quickly analyze compatibility issues with different layouts. Even when localizing for RTL (right to left) layouts, WYSIWYG can be achieved, greatly increasing the speed of iteration.
— Use powerful tools like Jetpack and Android Studio to improve development efficiency
Google’s powerful Android Studio tools help us develop more efficiently… Our products can be quickly built and validated, and always maintain very high product quality.
— Zhao Wei, Director of Domestic client R&D
Even a 0.01 second improvement in performance will be fought for by those on the WPS team who are obsessed with polishing their products. The pursuit of experience itself is no longer limited to devices, which is why they are confident about the future of mobile work.
The team discussed the UI details for adapting the folding screen
Perhaps in the future, there will be more innovative device forms in the Android ecosystem. Users will continue to seek a more convenient and powerful mobile office experience. And WPS is ready, and the future of mobile office can only be more exciting.
— Wu Zengying, General manager of Overseas Business Department