Apple's first foldable doesn't go on preorder until later in October, but it may already have its most charming app — and it isn't from a big studio.
Duo-Man, built by indie developer Vidit Bhargava at the Bitrig hackathon this weekend, turns the iPhone Duo into a virtual Walkman. Open the phone to browse your music and “insert” a cassette; close it, and playback starts. Bhargava recorded the button clicks and static hiss from a real Walkman so the experience feels right, and the demo took second place at the event.
“I have been a long-term Walkman enthusiast — still own and listen to it occasionally — and I have repurposed them in the past,” Bhargava told TechCrunch. “So, when I was looking for ideas for the hackathon, I was looking for physical objects that have a hinge.” He noticed how a cassette deck's door must open before you can insert a tape — and that the Duo's 7.6-inch inner display and 5.4-inch outer screen map neatly onto that ritual.
The post blew up on X, passing 1.8 million views and nearly 10,000 likes, and Bhargava now plans to ship a real app. It will support Apple Music and local files, let an Apple Pencil “roll” the cassette loop, and mimic the feel of the original fast-forward and rewind. Spotify support may follow.
The project says something about the Duo's early audience. Foldable hardware has been around for years, but Apple's developer community tends to be unusually quick to find novel uses for a new screen shape — and this one leans into a wider retro streak among younger buyers, who have been rediscovering digital cameras, flip phones and cassettes precisely because the objects are physical.
If the Walkman is the Duo's first killer app, its pitch is simple: buy an expensive new foldable, then use it to pretend it's 1985.
