iPhone Duo gets a virtual Walkman

Apple’s iPhone Duo has already inspired one of the more inventive uses of its foldable design: an app that turns the device into a virtual Walkman, complete with cassette tapes, mechanical button clicks and tape hiss.

Called Duo-Man, the app was created by indie developer Vidit Bhargava for the Bitrig hackathon, where it took second place. The idea makes the phone’s hinge part of the interface rather than simply treating the unfolded screen as extra space.

Open the Duo and users can choose music and “insert” a cassette into the 7.6-inch inner display. Close the phone and playback begins on the 5.4-inch outer screen, with controls modelled on a classic Walkman.

Bhargava even recorded sounds from a real cassette player to give the digital version some physical texture.

“I noticed how the Walkman’s door needed to be opened to insert a cassette, and I thought it would be cool to replicate on the Duo,” he said.

The idea taps into the same affection for analogue technology explored in Sony’s Walkman anniversary exhibition and more recently a prototype retro phone.

After Bhargava’s demo attracted millions of views online, the hackathon project is now being developed into a real app.

Planned features include Apple Music and local-file support, cassette-style fast-forward and rewind, plus the ability to use Apple Pencil to physically “wind” the tape.

For Apple, whose recent work includes its Safari online privacy campaign, Duo-Man offers an early glimpse of what could make foldable phones interesting.

Subscribe to the famous newsletter and get the best campaigns in your inbox