When I first got my hands on the iPhone Duo, I admittedly dismissed the unfolding animation that would soon become a highlight of online discourse. I was less interested in the smooth transition as content shifted from one screen to another and more focused on details such as the matte inner display and seemingly invisible crease.
But in the weeks since Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone, which drops Oct. 23, I’ve seen countless examples on social media of people trying to recreate that buzzed-about animation on their Android foldables. While the Play Store offers plenty of launchers for customizing Android phones — including ones that mimic the iPhone’s home screen — this appears to be one iOS design element that users are particularly eager to bring to their devices.
Sometimes, you really can’t predict what people will care about most — or the lengths they’ll go to imitate a feature.
The primary phone people have used to recreate the iPhone Duo’s cascading transition effect is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, which debuted in July with a passport-size foldable design ahead of Apple’s release. Unlike iOS, Samsung’s One UI interface, which runs on top of Android on Galaxy devices, doesn’t include a folding animation. Instead, content simply transitions from the Z Fold 8’s cover screen to its inner display once the phone is opened about halfway. I never considered this a deficiency until I saw the flood of positive reactions to the iPhone Duo’s fluid transition effect.
To bridge that gap, several creators have posted videos explaining how to use third-party apps and developer tools on GitHub to get a similar effect on the Z Fold 8, with caveats like “the smoothness and quality won’t be the same‘” and “install it [at] your own risk.” (That’s encouraging!) The steps don’t seem particularly complicated, and some options appear to have cropped up in the Play Store as well.
I’ve chosen to forgo installing these Duo-copycat apps on my precious Galaxy Z Fold 8 for two reasons. First, I’m not much of a risk-taker. Second, I’m not interested in imitating an aesthetic element of Apple’s software with a derivative version, especially when the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a standout foldable device in its own right. While the value of the Duo’s sleek animation has since grown on me, I’m not quite desperate enough to retrofit it onto a foldable phone that’s just as functional without that flourish.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 might not have a nifty opening animation by default, but I don’t see that as a deficiency.Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Don’t get me wrong: I think Apple’s combination of hardware and software expertise will elevate the iPhone Duo in a way that merits the attention the phone has received, despite being relatively “late” to the foldables game. But I also think it’s more tasteful for consumers to embrace what each phone-maker does best, rather than shoehorning in a competitor’s feature for something as superficial as an animation effect.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is one of my favorite phones I’ve tested this year, earning it a CNET Editors’ Choice Award. Its versatile design is optimized for both vertical and horizontal content: I can stream YouTube videos and movies on the 7.6-inch inner display, then rotate it to seamlessly scroll through social posts. The crease is barely noticeable, and the battery easily lasts all day. The 5.5-inch cover screen never feels cramped, while its sharp corners give the phone a highly polished look. And despite lacking a telephoto lens, the Z Fold 8’s dual rear cameras pull their weight, capturing crisp, vibrant photos.
The iPhone Duo shares many attributes with the Z Fold 8, including a palm-size design, 7.6-inch inner display and dual rear cameras. Those similarities prompted Samsung to post a series of salty tweets after Apple debuted its foldable last month, including one that reads, “Let us know when you’re done reheating our leftovers.”
That said, I am curious how app developers might optimize their platforms for the iPhone Duo in ways we haven’t seen with other foldable phones. While the Android operating system spans a wide range of devices and configurations, iOS developers only have to cater to a single foldable, potentially leading to a more tailored and streamlined experience. We got a glimpse of how Netflix is building its app for the Duo, and it’ll be interesting to see how both Apple and other third-party developers take full advantage of the phone’s 1.4:1 aspect ratio in ways that could make its predecessors seem behind the curve in that regard.
“Borrowing” features from each other is what phone-makers do best. Down the road, it’s possible companies such as Samsung will implement foldable capabilities that Apple rolled out first, and vice versa. Heck, Apple’s delayed entry into this space means it had time to analyze what worked well for its competitors before jumping in with its own rendition. It’s just how the industry works.
So maybe the Galaxy Z Fold 9 — or whatever Samsung decides to call the follow-up to the Z Fold 8 — will have its own nifty opening animation. But until Samsung itself embraces the idea, I’ll stick with using the standout foldable as-is.
Abrar Al-Heeti
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