Early reviews of the iPhone Duo were a little harsh on Apple’s new foldable due to the lack of Duo-optimized apps available at 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 already available, like Netflix, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Unoptimized apps are less than ideal, as they have 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 more time to prepare their apps for its latest form factor. The company said more than 2,000 app developers participated in more than 50 in-person workshops held in 19 cities around the world. Here, developers could use the Duo and work on their apps with support from Apple.
The Duo also proved more popular than Apple expected, given its high price. (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. During its earnings conference call this week, Apple said it was “difficult to predict” when the Duo constraints leading to these delays would improve.
It’s worth noting that not all of these updates are fully rolled out yet.
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, since this list comes directly from Apple, we expect to see these updates soon.
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