The iPhone Duo is a whole new type of device in Apple's lineup, and the first thought that came to mind when I got it was, "This thing has to have a bunch of cool new hidden tricks."
As it turns out, I was right. After 10 days with the Duo, I've found myself discovering new ways to do stuff almost every day. And it's not just easter eggs; I'm talking about features and tricks that have since become a regular part of my arsenal. I'm using these to do things faster, make my life easier, and yes, to show off to anyone who'll listen.
These are my favorite hidden features and tips for using the Apple iPhone Duo.
Control Center shortcut
This one is simple, but so very satisfying. One of the features that annoyed me on all of the iPhones I've had over the years (ever since the iPhone X, that is) was the Control Center. It should show up when I swipe down from the top-right corner of my display, but sometimes it doesn't appear, or I accidentally open the Notification Center.
But on the iPhone Duo, you can open the Control Center in a new way. In the top-right of the display, there's a neat new icon that combines WiFi and cell signal strength with battery life. Tap that, and the Control Center immediately slides down (the combo icon also expands into separate icons that display more information about battery, cellular, and WiFi signal).
It took some getting used to, but this is a far better way to open the Control Center. Not only is it easier to tap an icon than to swipe down, but the Control Center opens reliably every single time.
Shortcut controls for opening and closing the phone
I admit it: I haven't yet found a truly useful case for this one. But it does sound like it could be useful down the road. As noted by Federico Vittici, you can bind a Shortcut to opening and closing the iPhone Duo, which lets you do almost anything with those actions automatically.
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Obvious ideas include launching a favorite app, changing the wallpaper, or just invoking the good old creaky door sound for Halloween. Whatever people end up doing with it, it's definitely one trick that you just cannot do on any other iPhone.
Change the position of the volume controls
The first issue I've had with the iPhone Duo is something I'll call orientation fatigue. The phone is so much fun to use when it's open that I kept flipping it around to see how the apps would adapt, but I constantly found myself lost about where the power, camera, and volume buttons are.
The iPhone Duo has two ways to mitigate the issue. The power button will, in certain cases, get highlighted when it's needed, though this is not always the case. But there's also a setting that dynamically adjusts the volume buttons based on the iPhone Duo's orientation.
The setting is located in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Fixed Position Volume Controls. By default, it's turned on, meaning the volume buttons will stay fixed no matter how you turn the phone. But if you switch this option off, the volume buttons will change so that the button on the right or on top is always the "volume up" button, no matter how you hold the phone.
Vertical multitasking
Apple highlighted this one, so it's not exactly hidden, but it's slightly more challenging to invoke, making it easier to miss. The iPhone Duo supports "regular "multitasking in horizontal mode, in which you drag two apps to opposite sides of the display to get a side-by-side view.
If you turn the phone to a vertical position, the side-by-side view will vanish. But you can also multitask in a vertical position, though under one condition: one of the apps has to be a video PiP (picture-in-picture) window. To get this, open a video app such as YouTube, start a video, then minimize the video app. The video should stay in a tiny window floating above all other apps on the Duo's display. Now, start a second app, turn the Duo vertical, and drag the little video window to the top of the display. You'll get a cool split-screen view where the video plays on top, and the other app sits beneath it.
On any other phone, this wouldn't be very useful, but the Duo's display is wide enough to make this a viable option.
The other StandBy mode
In its promo materials, Apple mostly highlighted StandBy in tent mode, in which you fold the iPhone Duo halfway, then position it on a flat surface like a little tent. When the phone goes to sleep, it will launch a beautiful StandBy screen, with several customizable views.
But you can also get that when the phone is fully unfolded and positioned horizontally. If you have a case with a kickstand, you can position it upright and get a larger StandBy mode that doesn't have multiple views but is far more customizable in itself, allowing you to populate it with widgets such as Clock, Calendar, Photos, TV+, Stocks, Notes; nearly anything you can think of.
Both StandBy modes are useful. When I go to sleep, I prefer to have the phone in tent mode for a glance at the time. But when I work, I like the larger StandBy mode with a Calendar and a large world time view of the Clock.
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