In picture – iPhone Duo (Image Credit: Apple)
Hyderabad: Apple has made more than thousands of apps ready for the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. According to MacRumors, the company’s Vice President Susan Prescott said, “It’s been wonderful to see how quickly developers have embraced iPhone Duo,” and Apple is grateful for their creativity and innovation. She noted that over 100,000 apps are built for the iPhone Duo, live on the App Store, and added every day, solving the problem of many popular apps not being optimised.
The iPhone Duo went on sale last month. Prescott says, during that month, thousands of developers joined workshops held by the company in 19 cities around the world to have a hands-on experience of the foldable iPhone with the optimised apps.
She added that “Today there are well over 100,000 apps built for iPhone Duo already live on the App Store, and thousands of optimised apps are being added to the store each day.”
The iPhone Duo went on sale last month. Prescott says, during that month, thousands of developers joined workshops held by Apple in 19 cities around the world to have a hands-on experience of the foldable iPhone with the optimised apps.
She added that the company is excited to “see the pace of updates continue to accelerate as more and more apps optimise for iPhone Duo.”
What does ‘optimised’ mean?
The 100,000 apps are built with the iOS 27.1 SDK or a later version. These apps fill both the inner and the outer screen of the phone. Their controls also sit correctly in the status bar at the top.
Apps that are fully optimised carry a Made for iPhone Duo badge on their App Store page, which makes them easy to spot.
Which apps are ready?
Several well-known apps have been updated recently. These include Microsoft Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word. Etsy, Goodnotes, Halide Mark III, NBA, NHL, and Zoom are also on the list.
Amazon Prime Video, Fantastical, Flighty, Instagram, MLB, Netflix, SmartGym, WhatsApp and YouTube are ready too. The full list is much longer.
Apple Pencil support
iOS 27.2 adds support for the Apple Pencil (US-C). This makes it easier to draw in Procreate Pocket and write notes in Apple Notes, Fineliner and TypeDraw. Users can also mark up documents in apps such as Preview.
Which apps are still waiting?
The App Store has millions of apps, and many are not yet optimised. Some of the main ones are:
- AMC Theaters
- Amazon Fire TV
- Apple Store
- Best Buy
- Bluesky
- Delta
- DoorDash
- Duolingo
- Fandango
- FedEx
- Goodreads
- Google Docs
- Google Home
- Google Sheets
- Google Slides
- GrubHub
- JetBlue
- Libby
- Microsoft Authenticator
- Microsoft Teams
- MTA
- Nike
- PayPal
- PictureThis
- Ring
- Southwest
- Spectrum TV
- Starbucks
- Steam
- Uber Eats
- UPS
- USPS
- Venmo
- Verizon
- Wells Fargo
- Whole Foods
- YouTube Music
How hard is it for developers?
Apple says optimising an app is easy. Apps that use standard SwiftUI and UIKit parts work on both screens by themselves. Controls move to the status bar, and the inner screen gets multi-column support. New APIs also let developers design for different layouts and postures. Developers can get help from Apple’s online forums.
What about apps that are not ready?
Apps built with the iOS 27 SDK mostly fill the screen, but they leave out the status bar on the right edge. Apps built with iOS 26 or older look small in the middle, with black bars on either side.
The issue is being talked about on social media. Some users are unhappy, while others say the problem is not big. With new updates arriving daily, the picture is changing quickly.
