iPhone Duo hits 100,000 apps, Apple says thousands more daily

Optimized apps are not automatically perfect. At launch, users flagged that Instagram looked messy even though it carried the Made for iPhone Duo label, and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri described the Duo as "a bit of a tricky form factor." TechCrunch reports that Spotify still shows the black bar on the side on its review unit.

Apps that have not been optimized run with a black bar on one side and sometimes bury key functions in an overflow menu. According to GSMArena, apps built with standard SwiftUI and UIKit components can adapt automatically, while newer APIs cover custom layouts and hinge poses.

With millions of apps on the App Store overall, plenty of titles are still waiting for their Duo update.

To speed up adoption, Apple hosted more than 50 in-person workshops across 19 cities worldwide over the past month, with over 2,000 developers attending, according to the company. Prescott said thousands of developers joined the sessions to try the Duo firsthand and ship updated apps.

Demand for the hardware has outpaced expectations. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model (roughly 5,797 TND), sold out within hours of pre-orders opening, and shipping times have slipped into next year. On its earnings call this week, Apple said it is "hard to predict" when those supply constraints will ease.

If you are considering the iPhone Duo, the app situation is improving fast, but it is still uneven. Check for the Made for iPhone Duo badge before assuming your favorite app will fill the inner screen properly.

Availability in Tunisia has not been announced, and at $1,999 before import costs, the Duo is out of reach for most buyers here. The more useful signal for Tunisian users is that everyday apps like Google Translate, Strava and WhatsApp are already on the optimized list, which bodes well for the next, cheaper foldables.

For developers in Tunisia and the wider region, the 100,000-app milestone is a reminder that the Duo form factor is being treated as a real platform, not a niche experiment.