Two weeks after the iPhone Duo launch, Apple announced that there are now over 100,000 Duo-optimized apps on the App Store. Susan Prescott, the company's Vice President of Developer Relations, described the enthusiasm as "incredible" and noted that thousands of new apps are being added every day. On the same day, Apple released over a dozen new Duo-compatible apps, including Microsoft Word, Outlook, Zoom, NBA, NHL, Etsy, Goodnotes, and Halide Mark III.
But the impressive 100,000-app figure does not hide a fundamental problem that was present from the earliest reviews: optimization quality varies enormously, and many of the most commonly used consumer apps still work poorly on the foldable screen. Apps with the "Made for iPhone Duo" badge, such as Instagram, have received criticism for confusing layouts. Instagram product chief Adam Mosseri admitted in an interview that the Duo's form factor is "a bit tricky."
The iPhone Duo is Apple's answer to the foldable format that the company deliberately avoided for nearly eight years — since the first Galaxy Fold in 2019. When it announced the device, new CEO John Ternus explained the delay: "The other examples in the world felt kind of cheap and crappy." The device features a passport-style design with a 5.4-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner display when unfolded, powered by a 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip and a titanium frame. The launch price is US$ 2,000 for the 256GB model and US$ 2,200 for the 512GB, making it one of the most expensive smartphones ever sold.
What sets the iPhone Duo apart from all its Android competitors is not the hardware — though the hardware is solid. The real differentiator, as multiple reviews highlight, is Apple's developer ecosystem. In an interview with Android Central, reviewer Nirave Gondhia described the developer ecosystem as the device's "hidden superstar." The company that popularized the mobile app store has built relationships with developers over nearly two decades, and that advantage translates into adoption speed that no Android competitor has yet matched.
Apple did not rely solely on developers' goodwill. The company held more than 50 in-person workshops across 19 cities worldwide, attracting over 2,000 developers. The goal was clear: provide direct device access, development tools, and technical guidance before apps submitted to the App Store review. The latest iOS 27.1 APIs allow developers to create custom layouts based on hinge positions, and apps built with basic SwiftUI and UIKit components can automatically adapt to the dual screens.
The result is experiences that genuinely exploit the form factor. Games like Battlefleet Duo (a modern take on Battleship), Pianofold (a guitar-hero-inspired experience), and Deck-Man (which turns the phone into an 80s-style portable cassette player) are examples of creativity that are only possible because Apple opened the canvas and let developers experiment. Productivity apps like Goodnotes, Extra, and Halide Mark III use the dual screens in ways that go beyond simple duplication.
However, the average user experience remains uneven. Unoptimized older apps display a black bar along the side of the front screen and sit centered on the back screen, whether in portrait or landscape orientation. There is an option to expand and fill the entire screen — similar to what happened with early iPad apps — but the visual result is not always convincing. Google Calendar, one of the most widely used apps in the world, appeared in reviews with the black bar visible, which is particularly frustrating when you have paid US$ 2,000 for a phone.
Multitasking is also significantly more limited than on Android foldables. The app split is mandatory 50/50, with no resizing option. There are no floating windows, no support for three simultaneous apps, and split-screen only works in landscape mode. The Xiaomi 18 Fold, for example, can run six or more apps in independently resizable windows. When you turn the iPhone Duo to portrait mode, it shows only one app (the rightmost one), and switching back to landscape brings the split-screen back — what PhoneArena called a "strange" limitation.
Apple has a historical advantage in this dynamic. The original iPad Mini, released in 2012, faced the exact same problem: apps that did not exploit the larger screen, black bars, inconsistent layouts. Over time, most major apps evolved into a cohesive experience. The iPhone Duo is following the same path, but the process is inevitably slower because the iPhone's user base is much larger and more diverse than the iPad's ever was.
The question remains whether 100,000 apps in two weeks is truly a significant milestone or just the tip of an iceberg. The iPhone Duo still faces hardware limitations — the 4MP under-display camera on the inner screen, the lack of Face ID, and reports of cracked screens after normal use, known as "crack-gate." While the software experience still stumbles on essential apps, many users who waited eight years for Apple's answer to the foldable may find that the product is still very much a "first-generation" device — promising, but with a long road ahead.
Sources: TechCrunch, Android Central, Axios, The Verge, PhoneArena
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
