When the iPhone Duo launched, we shared a list of some of the fun apps developers created for the new form factor. Two weeks out, developers are continuing to come up with fresh ideas, so we thought we’d share some of our favorites.
Games
- Marbles Unhinged ($2.99) – Marbles Unhinged is a marble maze designed for the Duo. When you fold it, the floor turns into a ramp. If you stand the top half up, you can bank a marble off of it. When you snap the hinge, the marble launches up.
- Midnight Fridge ($2.99) – Midnight Fridge turns the iPhone Duo into a tiny refrigerator. It’s a memory game where the idea is to look at the magnets on the fridge and then find the items inside.
- Greens: Mini Golf ($2.99) – Greens is a mini-golf app made for the iPhone Duo, and it’s playable in any orientation. When folded like a laptop, you can putt on the half on the table, with the upright half serving as a caddie camera.
- Chirpfold (Free) – Chirpfold is a Flappy Bird-style app where you fold the phone to cause your bird to flap its wings.
- Valley Run ($0.99) – Valley Run is a neon-themed racing game where you fold the iPhone Duo to direct a marble down a series of challenging tracks.
- PianoFold ($4.99) – PianoFold is a rhythm game you can play with the iPhone Duo positioned like a laptop. Press and hold on the keys to match the song that’s playing. It’s free to download, but the full unlock is $4.99.
- Load Bearing ($5.00) – Load Bearing is a roguelite Tetris-style game that’s meant to be played with the Duo half open. The controls are on the bottom, and the blocks fall at the top. It also has deck building elements, so you can put together a set of your preferred block pieces to beat each level.
- Who’s at the Door? (Free) – Who’s at the Door? is an app that turns your iPhone Duo into a door. Open it up to see who is on the other side, and if it’s something scary, make sure to slam the Duo shut quickly before it gets you.
- Fold Match ($2.99) – Fold Match is a game where you’re given a shape on one side of the Duo and a blank spot where the shape needs to go on the other side. The idea is to position the shape to get to that empty space, but you won’t know how close you were until you close the iPhone.
- Battlefleet Duo (Free) – Battlefleet Duo takes advantage of the Duo’s design for a Battleship-style game. In laptop mode, you can see your fleet on the lower screen and the enemy’s waters in front of you.
Simple But Clever
- Duo Aquarium ($1.00) – As the name suggests, this app turns your iPhone Duo into an aquarium. When in tent mode, it serves as a virtual fish tank and clock. You can choose your fish and your add-ins, then feed them.
- AltoPaint ($5.99) – AltoPaint is an app that turns the iPhone Duo into a tiny canvas with a paint palette. There are watercolor, oil, and gouache paints with mixable colors.
- Post Club ($4.99) – Post Club is a cute app where you can pick a typewriter, fold the Duo like a laptop and type up a letter. There are 10 typewriters and 14 paper styles to choose from.
- Halfpage ($2.99) – Halfpage is another app that turns the iPhone Duo into a typewriter when it’s used in a MacBook-like orientation. The keys are at the bottom, and what you type is at the top. It has a simpler design than Post Club.
- Callsign ($1.49+) – Callsign turns your iPhone Duo into a sign that lets people know if you’re free or busy on a call. Just set it up, put it in tent mode, and people can know at a glance not to bother you. It’s free to download, and there are different visual packs to unlock with one-off $1.49 purchases.
- AskZine ($1.99) – AskZine is a Magic 8 Ball-like app where you ask a question, unfold the screen, and see your answer.
- Lullabox (Free) – Lullabox turns the iPhone Duo into a music box where you can wind the key, lift the lid, and watch a porcelain ballerina spin while soft music plays. The music gets louder as the iPhone Duo is opened further.
- DuoBook (Free) – DuoBook turns the iPhone Duo into a tiny Mac with a keyboard and trackpad that work like the Mac equivalent. You can also use it to send photos and files to the Mac.
Special Duo Features
- Wakeout ($59.99/year) – Fitness app Wakeout was Apple’s App of the Year back in 2020. It offers up workout games you can do in just minutes a day. You can put your Duo in tent or laptop mode to follow along with workout moves, playing games with your body.
- Faro (Free) – Faro is an app that helps you find movies to watch so you don’t waste time browsing through Netflix without ever making a choice. On iPhone Duo, you can see two films side by side to choose between them, or see your list of picks on one half of the display with details on each movie on the other half.
- CalibReader (Free) – CalibReader is an EPUB and PDF reader that turns the iPhone Duo into a book. The outer screen shows the title’s cover, and when you open it, there’s a two-page spread with page-turning animations.
- Retrocade (Apple Arcade) – Retrocade turns the iPhone Duo into a mini arcade machine and works on the Duo in multiple fold positions.
- Blankie (Free) – Soundscape app Blankie has a dual view with Now Playing on one side and Sound Mixer on the other. When folded in tent mode, it shows a view of what’s playing.
Camera Apps
- IncrediBooth (Free) – IncrediBooth turns the iPhone Duo into a little photo booth. Press the red button to capture an image, and your photo strip appears on the outer display. It’s free to download, with five strips available per day.
- VNTG (Free) – VNTG is an instant camera app where you close the iPhone Duo to take a shot and then open it up to develop it. It’s free to download, with in-app purchases to unlock camera lenses.
- Flipcorder ($4.99) – Flipcorder is a video recording app that turns the iPhone Duo into a retro camcorder. It’s designed to be used for daily video diaries, and each tape is displayed on a shelf in the app. To film, just unfold the Duo. Recordings have classic VHS-style effects.
Less Fun, More Serious
- Brim ($0.89) – Brim is a Safari extension that lets Safari use the full width of the iPhone Duo’s outer display for websites. It reclaims the blank space Apple left in Safari and moves links and buttons out from under the side controls.
- Widen ($3.99) – Widen is another extension that expands Safari to take up the width of the outer display. It also hides cookie banners and works in Split View. There are multiple settings, so you can set just pictures to take up the full screen, or opt to have pictures and text expand.
- SPAN (Free) – SPAN is an app that turns the iPhone Duo into a project tracker and timer. It has different views for each iPhone Duo orientation. SPAN is free to use for the current week, with a $4.99/month pro subscription available for unlimited projects and full monthly and yearly reports.
- BrainDrain (Free) – BrainDrain is a 60-second brain dump app that helps you sort your thoughts. On the iPhone Duo, different Duo orientations have different purposes. You can use it like a laptop in a half fold, type thoughts with the Duo closed, or put it in tent mode to use voice capture.
More Apps
Know of some fun iPhone Duo apps not on our list? Let us know in the comments. Be sure to check out our first iPhone Duo app article too.
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This article, “More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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