Apple's $1,999 foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, launched on Friday, October 23, alongside third-party iPhone Duo apps already updated for its dual displays. While supply is limited and buyers without pre-orders are likely to leave Apple Stores empty-handed, BGR selected eight apps optimized on day one for the device's inner and outer screens.
The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable phone and its first completely new form factor since the iPhone X nearly ten years ago, which BGR notes makes the release even more exciting than the recent iPhone 18 Pro launch. Built with a passport-like shape, the phone runs apps on its outer screen, across an inner display nearly the size of the iPad mini screen, or side by side in Split View.
Alongside built-in Apple software, developers behind Portal, Gentler Streak, The Outsiders, and the piano game PianoFold updated their apps for the new hardware. Beyond its main eight picks, BGR also recommends trying Deck-man, Penalty Area, and Toastie on the new foldable.
1. Portal
BGR describes Portal as one of the most interesting apps in the Apple ecosystem, designed to bring nature to users while they focus, sleep, or do creative work. Following a major redesign in September, the app uses its Circadian Flow feature to sync nature portals with a user's local time zone from sunrise to sunset. The iPhone Duo update lets users pick their favorite portals and unfold the phone for a fuller view.
The app offers more than 100 portals through a Liquid Glass interface, along with new alarms, timers, and widgets for the Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Control Centre. It also integrates more deeply with Siri AI, Spotlight, and Handoff so users can find and play portals across their devices.
Portal is free to download on the App Store, and new users receive a seven-day premium trial without entering payment details, enabling auto-renewal, or needing cancellation reminders. Paid subscriptions cost $2.99 per month, $29.99 per year, or $99.99 for lifetime access.
2. Gentler Streak and The Outsiders
For daily fitness tracking, BGR calls Gentler Streak and The Outsiders two of the best options available, and both have been updated by their development team for the iPhone Duo. Gentler Streak version 5.13.5 and The Outsiders version 1.8.3 introduce layouts tailored for the larger inner display while working across both screens, with or without Split View. The extra space gives users a broader view of their Activity Path, Training Readiness, charts, and workout summaries.
Gentler Streak is an award-winning wellbeing and fitness tracker that encourages consistency and rest days rather than pushing users to constantly do more. Paired with an Apple Watch, it analyzes how sleep affects wellbeing and suggests workouts based on activities the user enjoys.
The Outsiders is built for athletes training for marathons or triathlons, as well as users who want detailed statistics on how workouts affect their bodies. Like Gentler Streak, it avoids pushing users too hard and instead helps regular athletes see where to focus and track their progress over weeks and months.
3. Netflix and Instagram
Two of the App Store's most downloaded apps, Netflix and Instagram, are ready for the iPhone Duo at launch. Apple even showcased Netflix when unveiling the phone, demonstrating how folding the hinge on the inner screen enables a laptop-like viewing mode. In this posture, video plays on the top half of the display while the bottom half shows stream details and basic media controls.
Users can also watch Netflix shows in full-screen landscape on the inner display. In addition, the redesigned Netflix home screen lets viewers browse and pick a title on the folded outer screen before unfolding the phone to watch.
BGR notes that Instagram's day-one support is a welcome surprise, as Meta usually takes longer to adopt major iOS features such as 3D Touch and Liquid Glass. After recently releasing Instagram and WhatsApp across more Apple platforms, including native iPad apps, Meta optimized its software for the iPhone Duo to make watching Reels, posting, and browsing Stories easier.
4. RainViewer and Carrot Weather
For users looking beyond Apple's built-in Weather app, both RainViewer and Carrot Weather support the iPhone Duo on day one. RainViewer's developers say they redesigned outer-screen navigation by moving several buttons to the right side of the interface. Unfolding the phone expands the rain radar across the inner display and places map layers next to the map rather than on top of it.
Carrot Weather adds iPhone Duo optimization in version 6.9.2, following a larger update a few weeks earlier that brought full iOS 27 support. The release includes a new Layout Assistant to help users pick their preferred interface setup, an Activities section showing the best times for favorite workouts, and a Highlights section tracking potential weather shifts and extremes.
5. PianoFold
PianoFold is a new rhythm game built specifically for the iPhone Duo. Players fold the phone like a laptop and tap pads on the lower half of the screen as musical tiles slide down toward their fingers to keep the melody playing. The game offers a camera-powered Room view for playing against real-world surroundings and a glowing dark stage for focused sessions.
According to its developer, PianoFold includes 40 levels across eight chapters featuring compositions by Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and others. As players unlock songs, a practice room lets them slow down tiles, play with one or two hands, or switch from sliding tiles to an onscreen piano keyboard. It also features an old-school “Wait For Me” mode that pauses the song until the player hits the right note.
PianoFold is free to download, with a one-time $4.99 in-app purchase to unlock the full game. Even in the free version, the app includes no advertisements, creates no user profiles, and, according to the developer, contains no trackers.
This article was written by AI from reporting by bgr.com.
