Apple's Own Apps Show How iOS Bends Around the iPhone Duo Fold
On October 20, Apple published App Store screenshots showing its built-in apps running on the iPhone Duo, three days before the October 23 launch. MacRumors, which first spotted the images, called it the first systematic look at how Apple's own software handles the foldable form factor.
The dominant pattern is a familiar one: in landscape on the unfolded display, apps devote part of the screen to sidebar navigation, just like iPad layouts. TheDailyTechFeed's rundown notes that Reminders, Calendar and Preview all follow this route, while apps that do not need heavy navigation take the full screen, with an option to tap the bar away.
Some apps go beyond a sidebar. MacRumors reports that Contacts divides into a name list plus an editing pane side by side, while the Siri app skips the sidebar entirely: tiled conversations on the left, the full thread on the right. MacToReality adds that Preview pairs sidebars with bottom tool palettes, and that the floating popover from a long-press on an icon is not scaled up, so it covers less of the display.
Open or closed, the Duo puts a vertical dock and vertical navigation bars on the right side of the display. The exception, per MacRumors, is holding the unfolded phone upright like an iPad in portrait: navigation bars stay at the bottom. Apple says that posture suits keyboard apps and Safari browsing. Developer analyses note the "vertical bars" zone also carries the time and connectivity status, snapping back to top-and-bottom only in inner-display portrait.
No screenshot shows two apps side by side or two windows of one app, though both are supported. FoldHunt's guide explains the gesture: drag from the home indicator toward one edge and the current app takes half the inner display, with drag-and-drop between halves, such as a photo from Photos into Mail. MacRumors previously confirmed the split is a fixed 50/50 with no draggable divider, each half roughly as wide as the closed phone, so apps fall back to compact layouts. WorksOnDuo notes every app takes part, including un-updated letterboxed ones, and that two Safari windows can sit side by side.
Apple says its own apps, from Messages and Mail to Photos, Safari, Music and Camera, are optimized for the Duo, but has said nothing about which third-party apps will be ready at launch. Mezha reports that apps move between open and closed states without losing orientation, navigation buttons stay in consistent spots, and the device can be propped laptop-style, tent-style or half-open like a book. First reviews are expected as early as October 21, which should finally show how un-updated apps behave on real hardware.