The foldable’s extra screen real estate is put to good use.
Apple’s first foldable is real, and its extra screen real estate has forced the company to come up with new ways to interact with apps, including allowing iPhone owners to use multiple apps at once for the first time. From what Apple showed at the “surprise and shine” event, the experience is similar to the iPad, but with rearranged sidebars that keep everything within easy reach.
To accommodate the iPhone Duo’s 7.6-inch interior screen, Apple redesigned the apps to make the menu buttons easier to reach with one hand, moving the dock and menus to the side of the phone. Apps can also adopt more iPadOS-like designs when Duo is open, such as displaying more interface elements and messages in Slack. This also results in more space on the home screen. The Duo technically shows the space of two home screens when opened, allowing you to access more apps at once or use larger widgets.
Apple
Like an iPad, the Duo lets you run apps side-by-side and resize them on the fly in Split View, making it possible to drag photos between apps or reference information in one app while typing it in another. The Duo’s extra space also allows for new features in Apple apps, offering a live feed from the rear and front cameras during FaceTime calls, or letting you grab your child’s attention with the front screen while you take a photo of them in the Camera app.
Apple
Apple’s StandBy Ambient Display feature is also updated on the Duo since the phone can be partially folded for support. Using the indoor or outdoor screen, the Duo can act as a clock, photo frame or live weather feed. Of course, what the phone displays can also be customized. Once the iPhone Duo is updated to support the Apple Pencil USB-C, iPad-exclusive software features for annotating images, drawing, and taking notes will also be available on the Duo later this year.
