Apple's own apps on the iPhone Duo look a lot like iPad apps, according to screenshots now posted on the App Store, three days before the device goes on sale on October 23.
Most images show the Duo unfolded in landscape. Many apps use an iPad-style sidebar for navigation. Contacts splits into a list of names and an editing pane. Siri shows tiled conversations on the left and the full conversation on the right. Preview and Markup pair a large canvas with a tool palette along the bottom.
The controls move too. In both open and closed views, the dock and navigation bars sit vertically on the right side of the display. The exception is the open Duo held upright, like an iPad in portrait, where navigation bars return to the bottom. Apple says that position suits typing and Safari. On the Home Screen, widgets sit on the left and app icons on the right.
The inner display has no always-visible Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped cutout that shows alerts. There is no Face ID, and the front camera sits under the screen. The Island still slides out from the side for Live Activities and alerts, and the outer display has a small vertical one that holds the camera cutout.
The design choice matters more than any single layout. Apple appears to be reusing the iPad's interface rules instead of inventing a new set, which is a reasonable bet: developers already know them. It also keeps buttons in the same places as the device opens and closes.
But these are Apple's apps, built by the company that built the hardware. Earlier folding and dual-screen phones from other makers often struggled once third-party apps entered the picture. The screenshots also skip side-by-side apps, multiple Safari windows, and most of the laptop, tent and book-like positions. Third-party updates are expected when the device ships, and reviews could arrive as early as October 21. The first week of those updates will show how far the iPad playbook carries over.