iPhone Duo Can Do Split View, But Not Like Your iPad

[MacRumors]

Apple's iPhone Duo is the first iPhone that can run two apps side by side, but anyone expecting the sort of freedom that Split View offers on iPad might want to temper their expectations.

Apple's iPhone Duo marketing materials talk up app pairs and side-by-side windows, but it doesn't mention anything about resizing them. There's a reason for that.

If you put two apps side by side on the iPhone Duo's 7.6-inch foldable display, you can't drag the divider between them to make one app take up more space than the other. It's a fixed 50/50 split, regardless.

That's likely to be a disappointment to anyone who's used Split View on the iPad. Indeed, iPad owners have been able to resize apps in Split View when in landscape mode ever since 2015 when iOS 9 introduced the feature.

So why does Apple not let you resize apps on the iPhone Duo? It's likely down to the device's display geometry.

Both the inner and outer displays share the same 1:1.4 aspect ratio, and each half of the inner display works out to roughly the same size and shape as the outer screen. So an even split gives each app a canvas it already has to support, with the divider sitting neatly on the fold. If you were able to drag the boundary around, not only would it create a bunch of in-between sizes that wouldn't fit neatly on the outer screen, it would also be a nightmare for developers to build support into their iPhone apps.

Despite the lack of resizing capability, the iPhone Duo's foldable screen still has a lot of benefits. It allows you to quickly swap between apps, open two windows of the same app, and have a conversation over Messages while looking at another app's content on the other side of the screen, in both landscape and portrait modes. You can also save pairs of apps to come back to later.

Using apps side-by-side on iPhone Duo.So unfortunately, you can't change the app size when you use split view on the iPhone Duo. Only 1:1. 画面分割した際のアプリサイズは変えられない仕様です🥲 pic.twitter.com/1K1peXeivK— g.O.R.i（ゴリミー管理人） (@planetofgori) September 10, 2026​

Apple's first iPhone with a foldable display was always going to having a learning curve, especially for users coming from the iPad. With a starting price of $1,999, iPhone Duo pre-orders begin Friday, October 16, with availability starting Friday, October 23.

Article Link: iPhone Duo Can Do Split View, But Not Like Your iPad

 

[Kylo83]

bring that to the pro max phones and I wish the iPad brought back normal split mode

 

[rchaser]

So it basically is two phones stuck together.

☺️

 

[NicosAccount]

I dont watch much content on my phone and i dont play games, but i like gadgets and new things so ive been trying to find reasons to justify buying this, but i still cant find much of a reason. I have an ipad mini too and it stays in the kitchen and I only use it for recipes

 

[rchaser]

bring that to the pro max phones and I wish the iPad brought back normal split mode

What is “normal split mode”?

 

[tyranne201]

because its not an iPad. its an iPhone 🙂

 

[fonzy91]

Using apps side-by-side on iPhone Duo.So unfortunately, you can't change the app size when you use split view on the iPhone Duo. Only 1:1

*For now.

 

[code-m]

So it basically is two phones stuck together.

☺️

Nah the way it’s limited makes sense, having an app more than 50% of the screen will interfere with the bend and distort the look. When flat maybe it will work but Apple can introduce a snap to 50% when not flat feature.

 

[MiamiFL]

So it basically is two phones stuck together.

☺️

I guess I never even thought there would be resizing for this reason.

 

[Macalway]

Does anyone know if this will run pro iPad apps? Or is it confined to iOS?

Fortunately, there's plenty of time to sort this out.

 

[baryon]

Honestly even on an iPad mini – which has a larger screen – multi tasking is really awkward and clunky. I like the simplicity of how they did it with the iPhone duo. Having the split be where the seam is makes sense. Not allowing a super narrow app also makes sense.

 

[Astuces iOS]

iPad still wins with slide over, 3 apps, stage manager and more !

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

If you put two apps side by side on the iPhone Duo's 7.6-inch foldable display, you can't drag the divider between them to make one app take up more space than the other. It's a fixed 50/50 split, regardless.

This is a feature, not a bug! I used Split View on the iPad when it gave two apps exactly the same amount of space. I currently have multitasking turned off because I dislike the asymmetry and fussiness of the current iPadOS interaction model.

 

[dominiongamma]

I was hoping we could open more than two apps at once

 

[klasma]

This will be improved on the Trio.

 

[KPOM]

Does anyone know if this will run pro iPad apps? Or is it confined to iOS?

Fortunately, there's plenty of time to sort this out.

I believe just iPhone apps, which need to be updated to take advantage of the additional screen space and new UI layouts.

 

[nikhsub1]

File this under complaints no one ever had...

 

[klasma]

Alternative link to the tweet with the video: https://xcancel.com/planetofgori/status/2098110342257946821

 

[Digital Skunk]

I wouldn't mind this so much if they brought back the the sidebar/slide app windows. Still very interested in the Duo, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for more robust updates in the future.

 

[Pezimak]

Apple broke the Split View feature in iPad OS really, with it now only working in Windowed Apps mode which I have always found buggy and a rubbish user experience even on my M4 iPad Pro. So this new fixed take is actually welcome in my eyes.

In fact for me I have found iOS on iPhone to be a much better and more stable experience then iPad OS has been even today. So this in-between OS looks really interesting.

 

[Anonymous123]

Just going to post this here:

Image courtesy of Apple.

Notice how the lower app extends beyond the middle? Not a 50/50 split.

 

[FontGeek]

Why in the world do they display that little curved white line in the middle of the apps if you can’t resize the windows? It’s as if apple is begging the user to be frustrated. Split full-screen on Mac doesn’t have the line.

 

[Billy_Bob]

So it basically is two phones stuck together.

☺️

Three, if you count the top/closed screen. So it's really kind of an iPhone Trio.

 

[svish]

Good to know. But would have liked to see more than two apps being supported. Hopefully software support and options will improve in the future versions of iOS.

 

[Adamsal]

Apple's iPhone Duo is the first iPhone that can run two apps side by side, but anyone expecting the sort of freedom that Split View offers on iPad might want to temper their expectations.

Apple's iPhone Duo marketing materials talk up app pairs and side-by-side windows, but it doesn't mention anything about resizing them. There's a reason for that.

If you put two apps side by side on the iPhone Duo's 7.6-inch foldable display, you can't drag the divider between them to make one app take up more space than the other. It's a fixed 50/50 split, regardless.

That's likely to be a disappointment to anyone who's used Split View on the iPad. Indeed, iPad owners have been able to resize apps in Split View when in landscape mode ever since 2015 when iOS 9 introduced the feature.

So why does Apple not let you resize apps on the iPhone Duo? It's likely down to the device's display geometry.

Both the inner and outer displays share the same 1:1.4 aspect ratio, and each half of the inner display works out to roughly the same size and shape as the outer screen. So an even split gives each app a canvas it already has to support, with the divider sitting neatly on the fold. If you were able to drag the boundary around, not only would it create a bunch of in-between sizes that wouldn't fit neatly on the outer screen, it would also be a nightmare for developers to build support into their iPhone apps.

Despite the lack of resizing capability, the iPhone Duo's foldable screen still has a lot of benefits. It allows you to quickly swap between apps, open two windows of the same app, and have a conversation over Messages while looking at another app's content on the other side of the screen, in both landscape and portrait modes. You can also save pairs of apps to come back to later.

Using apps side-by-side on iPhone Duo.So unfortunately, you can't change the app size when you use split view on the iPhone Duo. Only 1:1. 画面分割した際のアプリサイズは変えられない仕様です🥲 pic.twitter.com/1K1peXeivK— g.O.R.i（ゴリミー管理人） (@planetofgori) September 10, 2026​

Apple's first iPhone with a foldable display was always going to having a learning curve, especially for users coming from the iPad. With a starting price of $1,999, iPhone Duo pre-orders begin Friday, October 16, with availability starting Friday, October 23.

Article Link: iPhone Duo Can Do Split View, But Not Like Your iPad

Although I don't see this as a big issue, The Duo seems to be going the same way as the iPhone Air last year, a big hoorah on the night and then slowly, more and more limitations come out, Camera's, the shape and the matt screen are the biggest No's for me.