Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, may have come last to the foldable party, as CNET’s review noted, but it’s certainly not least. Senior reporter Abrar Al-Heeti praised it for the iOS 27 integration across both displays and its impressive durability, which has crossed 300,000 folds in our test and counting.
However, as the Duo has filtered down to the general public, some new owners have noted that some of their favorite apps aren’t well optimized for the larger 4:3 inner display. I noticed this myself when I opened the iPhone Duo and launched Discord, finding the app centered on the screen with black space on both sides, rather than expanding to fill the panel.
That’s not unusual for a phone with a brand-new hardware design, and we’ve seen it on many Android foldables, with optimized apps taking a little bit of time to roll out. Apple has confirmed that this is already changing, with over 100,000 apps built for the iPhone Duo to more fully take advantage of the 4:3 main screen.
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“Today, there are well over 100,000 apps built for iPhone Duo already live on the App Store, and thousands of optimized apps are being added to the store each day,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations in a comment sent to CNET.
“In the last month alone, thousands of developers have joined us for workshops in 19 cities around the world to experience iPhone Duo firsthand and bring updated apps to their users,” Prescott said. “The enthusiasm has been incredible, and we’re excited to see the pace of updates continue to accelerate as more and more apps optimize for iPhone Duo.”
Among the apps, Microsoft Word and Outlook have been adjusted to look similar to their desktop versions, while Zoom uses the inner display as a bigger video conference room. Additionally, the company has confirmed that sports fans can use the NBA and NHL apps to follow live games and highlights on the larger screen.
Etsy and LTK Creator will also show more products in the feed, and productivity apps like Goodnotes and Extra will make more use of the additional screen real estate. There’s also Halide Mark III, a pro camera app that adapts to every pose, from a viewfinder on the cover screen when closed to a waist-level viewfinder with one tap when half open.
The iOS 27.2 update should also add support for Apple Pencil (USB-C), letting Duo users in various compatible apps, like Apple Notes, work directly on documents.
Apple shared a list of apps that have been recently optimized for the iPhone Duo, breaking them down into categories like Work, AI, Finances, News and more.
- Watch and Listen: Spotify, CBS, Tubi, BBC iPlayer (UK), Apple Music Classical
- Sports: NBA, NHL, Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Sportsnet (Canada)
- Stay Connected: Facebook Messenger, Google Chat
- AI: ChatGPT, Grok Bot, Microsoft Copilot
- Work: Zoom, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SAP Concur, monday.com
- Productivity: Extra, Goodnotes, PDF Expert, Documents, iA Writer
- News: Substack, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, Fox News
- Finances: Kalshi, Yahoo Finance
- Capture and Create: Halide Mark III, Canva, Suno
- Lifestyle: Etsy, LTK Creator, Tinder, Google Translate
- Health and Fitness: Strava, Alma, Withings, MyFitnessPal, Bevel
- Travel: Transit, Citi Bike, ParkMobile, Viator, Tesla Robotaxi, Priceline
- Food and Dining: Kroger, Domino’s, Taco Bell, Untappd
- Weather and Sky: The Weather Channel, Fox Weather, RainViewer
This isn’t an exclusive list by any means. CNET previously confirmed seven iPhone Duo-ready apps that make the most of Apple’s foldable screen: Netflix, NYT Cooking, Fantastical, Edits by Instagram, TikTok, Instagram and Toastie.
Apple fans have put together their own “does it work on iPhone Duo?” web tracker, giving you a sense of whether an app is fully optimized, partially fits or is still awaiting updates. I can confirm that Discord is currently listed as “partially fits,” meaning it uses most of the inner screen but not all of it, which tracks with my own experience with the letterboxing.
We expect that this is only the beginning, and we’ll see the list above expand in the coming weeks as updated apps are submitted to the App Store. Going forward, you should also see spotlights for iPhone Duo apps in categories like “Great Apps and Games” and “Popular Apps.” Apple is making it easier to identify apps compatible with the iPhone Duo by adding a Made for iPhone Duo badge to product pages.
