The Duo apps are coming, says Apple

The early iPhone Duo reviews were a bit hard on Apple’s new foldable for the lack of Duo-optimized apps available at the time of launch. But Apple says things are changing quickly on the software front. The company on Friday announced there are now over 100,000 apps built for the Duo live on the App Store, and it’s seeing thousands more being added to the store every day.

The news was timed alongside the release of over a dozen more notable Duo-ready apps, including Microsoft Word and Outlook, Zoom, sports apps from the NBA and NHL, shopping apps like Etsy and LTK, productivity apps like Goodnotes and Extra, the Halide Mark III camera app, and others. These join the iPhone Duo-optimized apps that were already available, like Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Non-optimized apps are definitely less than ideal, as they come with a black bar on the side of the screen, which takes up valuable space. Sometimes, they hide important functions under an overflow menu.

Apple’s data seems to suggest that at least some iOS developers may have needed extra time to get their apps ready for its latest form factor. The company said that over 2,000 app developers attended its over 50 in-person workshops that were hosted across 19 cities worldwide. Here, the developers could use the Duo and work on their apps with Apple’s support.

The Duo has also proven to be more popular than perhaps Apple had planned for, given its high price point. (It starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model.) The device quickly sold out within hours of orders opening up, and now, Duo ship times have shifted into the next year. On its earnings call this week, Apple said it’s “hard to predict” when the Duo constraints leading to those delays will improve.

“It’s been wonderful to see how quickly developers have embraced iPhone Duo, and we’re grateful for their creativity and innovation,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, in a statement referring to the 100,000-app milestone. “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,” she added.

Other notable apps that have been updated for iOS 27 and optimized for the iPhone Duo include the following: Spotify, CBS, Tubi, BBC iPlayer (UK), Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Sportsnet (Canada), Facebook Messenger, Google Chat, ChatGPT, Grok Bot, Microsoft Copilot, Excel, PowerPoint, SAP Concur, monday.com, PDF Expert, Documents, iA Writer, Substack, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, FOX News, Kalshi, Yahoo Finance, Canva, Suno, Tinder, Google Translate, Strava, Alma, Withings, MyFitnessPal, Bevel, Transit, Citi Bike, ParkMobile, Viator, Tesla Robotaxi, Priceline, Kroger, Domino’s, Taco Bell, Untappd, The Weather Channel, FOX Weather, and RainViewer.

Not all these updates have yet to fully roll out, we should note.

Spotify, for instance, is still showing the black bar on the side, and the App Store doesn’t yet say an update is available on our review unit of the Duo. However, given that this list comes directly from Apple, we expect to see these updates soon.

Source: techcrunch.com