Apps Reveal the Iphone Duo’s Many Surprising Uses

WHO:

TechCrunch - Apple’s first foldable iPhone is called the iPhone Duo; developers have created apps designed to use its folding display.

MacRumors - Tiny Computers offers retro-computer options inspired by the Macintosh, Commodore 64, Amiga 500, iMac G3, and iBook G3.

MacRumors - Fold & Squish and Tiny Computers are made by the same developer.

MacRumors - Delta is a game-emulator app updated for the iPhone Duo.

MacRumors - TypeDraw supports Apple Pencil; its developer, Phil Traut, said users can customize the notebook with colors, fonts, and their own handwriting.

MacRumors - Toastie developer Tom Szykulski described the app as turning the Duo into “the world's most expensive toaster.”

WHAT:

TechCrunch - Developers have made apps for the Duo including retro cassette players, virtual notebooks, flight trackers, and a digital toaster.

MacRumors - Tiny Computers ($3.99) presents a miniature retro computer with a display and virtual keyboard; its keyboards are clickable, and it includes desktop games, paint programs, hidden files, and easter eggs.

MacRumors - Fold & Squish is free and makes Rorschach-style art by painting on one display half, closing the device, rubbing the outer display, and reopening it. A Sparkle Pack adds glitter and rainbow paints and pencil guides; the base features are free.

MacRumors - Portal is a relaxation app with more than 100 natural-environment locations, calming sounds, breathing exercises, meditation, focus timers, and sleep timers. Three free portals refresh monthly; Premium costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

MacRumors - Lake is a free adult coloring-book app with basic pages and tools; full access costs $9.99 per month. It is being updated for Apple Pencil.

MacRumors - Toastie ($2.99) is a grilled-cheese game: players assemble ingredients, close the Duo to toast the sandwich, and aim not to burn it.

MacRumors - Delta is free and can make the Duo resemble a Nintendo DS, with DS controls; closing the device makes it look like the console shell and puts the game to sleep. Delta also supports games from other systems.

MacRumors - TypeDraw ($4.99) turns the Duo into a notebook that opens to writable pages.

MacRumors - Fold Accordion ($2.99) uses the hinge as bellows; opening and closing the Duo makes music, and a learn mode lights up keys to press.

MacRumors - Living Earth ($5.99) displays a selected location’s time and local weather on a rotating globe, along with live clouds, storms, and worldwide weather maps.

MacRumors - Duometry ($2.99) asks players to fold the Duo to match a target angle.

MacRumors - Deck-Man ($4.99) is a retro cassette-player app: users choose music, insert a cassette, and close the Duo to start playback.

MacRumors - Orisuji ($4.99) is a paper-maze game in which players fold from the inner display to the outer display to solve puzzles.

MacRumors - Foldissimo plays accordion songs; Fold Focus costs $5.99 per month and uses a virtual city to motivate users to keep the Duo closed during work, study, or creative sessions; Foldfish is a free fishing game; Nitelore is a free neon-colored anti-gravity racing game.

MacRumors - The Duo supports multiple folding and orientation options, and some apps use skeuomorphic designs.

WHERE:

MacRumors - Portal includes natural environments such as a lava river in Iceland and a cloud forest in Costa Rica.

MacRumors - Living Earth presents weather maps across the world.

WHEN:

MacRumors - The articles provide no future event dates.

WHY:

MacRumors - Fold Focus is designed to encourage work, study, or creative sessions by motivating users to keep the device closed.

MacRumors - Portal offers relaxation and meditation features, as well as focus and sleep timers.

HOW:

MacRumors - Apps use the Duo’s folding display and orientations for interactive features, including closing it to toast a sandwich, start music, sleep a game, or create art, and folding it to play accordion or match an angle.

(UPDATED October 24, 2026 16:06 UTC)

Apple’s first foldable iPhone, called the iPhone Duo, is drawing a growing collection of apps built around its folding screen. Developers are using the hinge and two displays for playful, practical experiences, from retro cassette players and virtual notebooks to flight tracking and digital art. The free Fold & Squish turns paint into mirrored, Rorschach-style images when users close and reopen the phone, while Toastie lets players assemble a grilled cheese and fold the Duo to toast it. Delta, a free game emulator, can make the device resemble a Nintendo DS, with closing it putting games to sleep. Other options include Tiny Computers, a miniature collection of retro-inspired machines, and TypeDraw, a customizable notebook that supports Apple Pencil. Portal offers calming nature scenes, meditation and sleep timers, while Fold Accordion uses the phone’s movement to play music.