Creative apps highlight the iPhone Duo’s foldable design

Apple’s first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, is drawing attention from developers who are designing apps around its two screen sizes. In a TechCrunch article, Sarah Perez describes early examples tested on a review unit provided by Apple.

Netflix’s Duo-optimized app uses the outer screen to browse its short-form “Clips” and shifts video to the larger inner display when the phone is unfolded. Other launch partners mentioned include MLB, NYT Cooking, Slack and Fantastical.

Music app Deck-Man, previously called Duo-Man, recreates the feel of a cassette player. Indie developer Vidit Bhargava designed it at a hackathon. Users can browse albums presented as cassettes and control playback with play, pause, fast-forward and rewind buttons. The app uses cassette sounds recorded from a real portable player. Its interface resembles a Walkman when the Duo is closed.

Another example, TypeDraw, is a notebook app by Phil Traut. It offers a handwriting-style font, a dozen fonts designed by its creator, and lined, grid or dotted paper. The folded phone’s shape makes it resemble a small notebook, according to Perez.

The article also notes that many mainstream iOS apps were not optimized for the Duo by launch, with some appearing alongside black bars or placing controls awkwardly. The device starts at $2,000.