Apple Showcases iPhone Duo Apps From Netflix, Instagram, and More

Apple is previewing how apps from Netflix, Instagram, Microsoft, and other developers will use iPhone Duo's folding display ahead of its October 23 launch, with layouts that change as the phone opens, closes, or rests partially folded.

New App Store collections for the device go live tomorrow, and optimized apps will carry a 'Made for iPhone Duo' badge on their product pages. The rollout extends beyond launch day: Word and Outlook updates are due in the coming weeks, while some games and other apps will follow later this year.

The inner display has 50 percent more screen area than iPhone 18 Pro Max, and both Duo screens share the same aspect ratio, allowing apps to scale proportionally between them. Apple's app design guidance also covers layouts that move controls away from the fold and show multiple columns when the device is open.

Streaming and Sports

Netflix lets viewers browse Clips on the outer display, then unfold the phone to continue watching on the larger screen, with Clips adapting to vertical or horizontal viewing. Prime Video makes a different use of the hinge: when the phone is partially folded, video plays above while X-Ray cast information and bonus content appear below.

Paramount+ adds expanded browsing and playback controls. For sports, MLB can place the live broadcast on the upright half of the display and real-time statistics on the half resting on a table. PGA Tour also uses the larger screen for live coverage, highlights, scores, and leaderboards.

Productivity and Video Editing

The upcoming Word update places formatting tools beside a document, while Outlook will show the inbox alongside an open message. Zoom uses the inner screen to display shared content and meeting participants together. Slack exposes more of a workspace, and Salesforce provides more room for customer dashboards.

Fantastical brings calendars, tasks, and menus into the same view, while Split View lets users keep another app, such as Cardhop or an inbox, beside it. Notewise combines notes, documents, and AI tools; Things and Bear also adapt their task and note layouts to the extra space.

For creators, Detail uses Apple's Core AI framework to run models on the device and puts video beside its transcript. Its tools include captions, filler-word removal, and audio enhancement. Instagram shows more posts and Stories at once, while Edits and VLLO make room for footage, timelines, and editing controls on the same screen.

Games and Folding Controls

Apple says A20 Pro and the custom vapor chamber provide up to 35 percent better sustained performance than iPhone 17 Pro. Asphalt Legends takes advantage of the larger display, with more than 350 cars and races against up to seven online opponents.

Zenless Zone Zero will add iPhone Duo support in November, with controls that respond to how the device is held. Azra Games' UnGodly also launches on the App Store in November and adjusts its view and controls for each display, including a taller view of its worlds when the phone is closed.

Apple Arcade titles Sneaky Sasquatch and Retrocade are adapting to open and closed play. Deck-Man uses the folding action more directly: users open the phone to choose an album and insert a virtual cassette, then close it to start listening through Apple Music.

Cooking, Shopping, and Travel

NYT Cooking supports a phone propped on the counter, with more room for recipes, instructional videos, and timers. LTK pairs creators' videos with the products they feature, Lowe's provides larger views of finishes and materials, and Shop expands its product feed. OpenTable adjusts restaurant details and bookings, while Yelp places maps beside reviews. DoorDash plans a larger delivery-tracking map later this year.

Travel apps include Lyft, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Flighty, which adds a flight-tracking mode for a propped-up phone. Other adaptations include Sky Guide's star maps with Liquid Glass controls, Tide Guide's charts and weather radar, edjing Mix's two-deck interface with stem separation, and Next Shot's golf course previews and scorecards.

Regional developers are updating their apps too. In China, examples include iQIYI, WPS Office, Xmind, Weibo, AMap, rednote, and Taobao, with layouts for video, documents, maps, and shopping. Korean apps include WEBTOON, NAVER SERIES, KakaoTalk, KakaoPage, and BAND. In Europe, Airmail shows more of an inbox and its messages, Craft pairs its style gallery with a live preview, and Tiimo combines a timer with notes when the phone is propped up. Latin American examples include Tripsy, SmartGym, and Moises.

Developer Tools and Availability

More than 2,000 developers have attended over 50 in-person workshops in 19 cities, with further sessions planned in London, Mexico City, Montreal, Paris, and Toronto. The iOS 27.1 SDK includes arrangement and reserved-region APIs for custom layouts, a hinge API to respond to the display angle, and scene accessories that can put content on both screens at once, such as a teleprompter facing the person being recorded.

Standard SwiftUI and UIKit components adapt to the two displays automatically. Camera APIs support rear-camera selfies and the under-display camera, while Device Hub in Xcode 27.1 lets developers simulate opening, closing, folding, and rotating the phone. Optimized apps can be submitted to the App Store now.

iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the U.S. in star white or night sky, with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities. Availability begins October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions, followed by 28 additional markets on October 30. The iPhone Duo FAQ covers app compatibility, Apple Pencil support, cameras, and other hardware details.