It’s been a few days since Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone, called the Duo, to the public, and while many are still wondering whether it makes sense to buy one—especially at these steep prices—app developers are showing how they’re making the most of the new possibilities.
One of the first apps to take advantage of the three screens and the foldable phone is the Duoman app. It turns the iPhone Duo into a retro Walkman, displaying a view of a digital cassette recorder on the front screen and, when unfolded, linking the music cassette collection to the interior of a Walkman. To play a cassette, simply press the “cassette buttons.”
Not only has TechCrunch already dubbed this app the first “killer app” for the iPhone duo—one that could boost sales among nostalgia-seekers—but it’s also a successful example of skeuomorphism. Wikipedia describes skeuomorphism as
A design style in which objects are shaped to resemble familiar items, without this resemblance being dictated by their function.
We often see this when a new technology is introduced that incorporates design elements from a previous one. This helps users make the transition, as the familiar elements make it easier for them. For example, the first iPhone featured a contacts app with ring-shaped elements that held the pages together. Or, in music software, knobs similar to those found on stereo systems. Or an iPhone phone app that comes with a rotary dial.
Skeuomorphic design makes it easier for users to accept new technology, especially during the transition. Once users have gotten used to it, companies and designers can take the next step: move away from the old design and fully leverage the capabilities of the new technology with a new design. That’s why today we scroll through the list of contacts in our address book instead of having to laboriously flip through the pages.
The Duoman app is one that will help users—who have grown accustomed to the form factor of previous iPhones but haven’t yet gotten used to the iPhone Duo—to accept the latter more quickly. And that is precisely the power of skeuomorphism.