Why apps look wrong on iPhone Duo
Content cut off at the edge. A video stranded in a small band. Buttons sitting behind the camera, or stranded across the fold. If that is what you are seeing on Apple’s folding iPhone, nothing is wrong with your phone — those apps have not been updated yet.
The short version
The inner screen is a different shape, not simply a larger one. Apps written for a tall, narrow phone have to be updated by their developers to fit it. Apple shipped the tools for that on the day the device was announced.
It is a different shape, not a bigger screen
Every iPhone before this one was roughly twice as tall as it was wide. The iPhone Duo inner display is close to square by comparison:
| Screen | Size in points | Shape (aspect ratio) |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone Duo inner (unfolded) | 626 × 890 | 1.42 — nearly square |
| iPhone Duo outer (cover) | 466 × 678 | 1.45 |
| iPhone 18 Pro | 402 × 874 | 2.17 — tall and narrow |
Full numbers, including pixels and pixel density, are on the display reference page. If the app in question is yours, see what fixing it involves and costs.
What each symptom actually means
| What you see | What the app is doing wrong |
|---|---|
| Content stuck in a narrow column with empty space beside it | Layout pinned to a fixed phone width instead of filling the space it is given |
| Video in a small band with thick black bars | Fixed 16:9 media on a much squarer display — some letterboxing is unavoidable, but the leftover space should be used |
| Text or buttons cut off at one edge only | The app assumes both edges are inset by the same amount. On this device they are not |
| Something important sitting on the crease | The app has not accounted for the hinge dividing the screen when partly folded |
| A control hidden behind the camera | The app is drawing under the camera cutout instead of around it |
| The app rotating when you did not expect it | The unfolded screen does not honour an app’s request to stay in portrait |
Will it fix itself?
Only when the developer ships an update. Apple published new layout APIs alongside the device, but each app has to adopt them and release a new version. Keeping automatic updates switched on means those fixes reach you as they land.
Apps that have not been rebuilt at all still run — Apple made sure of that. They simply show at a familiar phone size instead of using the larger screen.
What is it called?
Apple’s name is iPhone Duo. You will also see it called the folding iPhone, the foldable iPhone, the Apple fold, the iPhone flip or the iPhone 18 Fold. They all refer to the same device, announced on 9 September 2026 and running iOS 27.
If you make one of these apps
Every symptom above maps to a specific, documented fix. These are the ones users notice first: