Apple says over 100,000 apps now built for iPhone Duo

Apple announced that more than 100,000 apps built for the iPhone Duo are now live on the App Store, and thousands more are being added every day. The company also highlighted more than a dozen newly available Duo-ready apps, while noting that non-optimized apps can leave a black bar on the side of the screen. The news comes as the device, which starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model, has sold out and ship times have moved into next year.

More apps join the Duo lineup

Apple timed the announcement with 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 iPhone Duo-optimized apps already available, such as Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Non-optimized apps are less than ideal because they can show a black bar on the side of the screen, which takes up space, and sometimes hide important functions under an overflow menu.

Developer support and supply

Apple said more than 2,000 app developers attended over 50 in-person workshops hosted across 19 cities worldwide, where they could use the Duo and work on their apps with Apple's support. The Duo has also proven to be more popular than perhaps Apple had planned for, given its high price point. On its earnings call this week, Apple said it is 'hard to predict' when the Duo constraints leading to those delays will improve. 'It's been wonderful to see how quickly developers have embraced iPhone Duo, and we're grateful for their creativity and innovation,' said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, in a statement referring to the 100,000-app milestone. 'The enthusiasm has been incredible, and we're excited to see the pace of updates continue to accelerate as more and more apps optimize for iPhone Duo,' she added.

More updates expected soon

Apple listed many other apps that have been updated for iOS 27 and optimized for the iPhone Duo, including Spotify, CBS, Tubi, BBC iPlayer (U.K.), Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Sportsnet (Canada), Facebook Messenger, Google Chat, ChatGPT, Grok Bot, Microsoft Copilot, Excel, PowerPoint, SAP Concur, monday.com, PDF Expert, Documents, iA Writer, Substack, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, FOX News, Kalshi, Yahoo Finance, Canva, Suno, Tinder, Google Translate, Strava, Alma, Withings, MyFitnessPal, Bevel, Transit, Citi Bike, ParkMobile, Viator, Tesla Robotaxi, Priceline, Kroger, Domino's, Taco Bell, Untappd, The Weather Channel, FOX Weather, and RainViewer. Apple noted that not all of these updates have fully rolled out yet. For example, Spotify is still showing the black bar on the side, and the App Store does not yet show an update available on the review unit of the Duo. Given that this list comes directly from Apple, these updates are expected soon.

Sources: TechCrunch · MacRumors