The iPhone Duo has been officially out less than a week, but the worries when it comes to left-handed use persist. In this week's Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (the outlet's chief Apple correspondent) asserts that early lefty owners say it's not much of a problem.
A new Reachability mode for the outer screen is coming, he says. However, what he describes is not the same thing as the one-handed mode rival Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 has.
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Since the iPhone Duo's UI reveal back in September, showing that Apple had moved the navigation bar and other controls all the way to the right side of its outer screen, reachability concerns arose among potential buyers.
The iPhone Duo's outer screen keeps the dock and controls on the right. | Image by Apple
One group in particular was named as the one that would be most affected by this change, left-handed users, as they would have to stretch the most across the screen to reach said controls. However, according to Gurman, early-usage reports from left-handed Duo owners and reviewers don't seem to consider this as much of a problem as originally thought. One of the points Gurman makes is that using the phone's inner screen isn't an issue for southpaws, as most people use it two-handed anyway.
A report claims Apple said a Reachability mode is coming later this year, although no date was officially given for this rollout. Gurman says this mode will move the main content to either the left or right side of the outer display, unlike the old iPhone Reachability mode that pulled the content down.
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Which fix would make the iPhone Duo easier to use one-handed?
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Reachability vs. One-handed mode
This means that Reachability mode is arriving later as a software fix, and all early Duo buyers will have to live with right-side controls until then. Apple's Reachability mode first arrived with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus back in 2014, was off by default and pulled the top of the screen down into a thumb's reach.
The Duo twist is that the outer screen is wider and shorter than previous iPhones, so the issue becomes reaching across, not up. Because of this, the Duo version of Reachability will move the content sideways, instead of down.
In contrast, Samsung's One-handed mode on the Fold 8 series can be turned on with a gesture or a home-button double-tap. It then shrinks the screen down, at which point it can be swapped to either the left or right side of the screen. So, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra owners have an advantage here, as Apple is just catching up in this regard.
What to do now if you are left-handed
Lefties and right-handed users who tend to hold their phones in their left hand are the most affected by this right now, as reaching across the right-sided dock is the pain point. If you are in either of these buckets and are considering buying an iPhone Duo, it would be beneficial to try one out first at an Apple Store to see if it works for you.
The iPhone Duo reachability fix is late to the party
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the reachability fix is coming, but honestly, for a phone this expensive, it really should have been there on day one.
I am not left-handed, nor do I have a Duo yet, but I do tend to hold my phone in my left hand as was the case with the Z Fold 8. I am curious if Reachability will show up on the inner screen too, since Gurman only mentioned the outer one.
Johanna Romero is a Senior News Writer at PhoneArena, covering mobile technology news across Android, iOS, wearables, and the Google ecosystem she knows best. Drawing on 15 years in IT and tech support from 2007 to 2022, she brings a user-friendly eye for the practical features and lesser-known tricks readers care about. Google named her an official #TeamPixel member in 2022, and she also reviews the latest devices on her YouTube channel, JoJo the Techie.
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