iPhone Duo isn't even out yet and it already has better foldable apps than your Android

Pre-orders for the Apple iPhone Duo opened last week, with general sales starting tomorrow. Since this is the company’s first foray into the foldable segment, app support was among the key topics of discussion in the days after its announcement. Apple now has some news on this front, revealing a long list of major apps from around the world that will support the iPhone Duo.

In a blog post detailing apps tailored for the iPhone Duo, Apple revealed launch-day support for both major and lesser-known iPhone apps. The list includes popular video streaming apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and Paramount Plus, along with MLB and the PGA Tour.

We don’t see one of the most popular audio streaming apps, Spotify, on the list, and YouTube isn’t mentioned either. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean these apps won’t work on the iPhone Duo. Major apps typically add support for new form factors shortly after launch, so if you’ve reserved an iPhone Duo recently, there may not be a reason for concern just yet.

Other apps mentioned in Apple’s post include productivity tools like Microsoft Word and Outlook, along with Slack and Salesforce. Zoom uses the Duo’s inner screen effectively to make the most of the available space. Social media app Instagram (and Edits) also get launch-day support, as does Lyft.

As for games, Apple mentions only Asphalt Legends, Zenless Zone Zero, and UnGodly, plus Sneaky Sasquatch and Retrocade on Apple Arcade. However, this list could grow longer in the days and weeks following the iPhone Duo’s availability. Other popular apps supported on day 1 include NYT Cooking, Lowe’s, OpenTable, DoorDash, and Yelp.

Given how well-equipped Apple and its developer ecosystem seem for the iPhone Duo’s launch, it’s hard not to wonder why Android foldables couldn’t take the same route. Brands like Samsung and Google, along with a handful of others, had a decent head start over Apple in the foldable business, though app optimization took a long time to reach the current levels.

Technically, there are currently more foldable-optimized Android apps than there are for the iPhone Duo. However, that’s not particularly a surprise, given that Android foldables have been around for nearly a decade.

As Android’s chief recently suggested, the growing popularity of foldables could give developers more incentive to produce and optimize apps for this form factor. This, in turn, could help improve the state of Android apps on foldables, or so we hope.