iPhone Fold, iPadOS, or iFoldOS?

by Rian

Though I never elaborated it to software level of discussions, one of the immediate questions I had for foldable (book styled) is that it has no media exclusive to the hardware. And it seems that is still the case. As far as I am aware, Android manufacturers and developers on the platform have not worked out what would be the potential use case of having quite literally flexible and dynamic resolutions. As I have iterated multiple times, if it is simply the case of having a larger screen for certain occasions, with the magic of buying two devices, a tablet and a smartphone, you pay less and still own two independent devices.

Again, if we were to work with possible 8 inches or bigger display when unfolded, the alleged device would have a screen real estate big enough to run a proper iPadOS. Since iPadOS is currently capable of running iPhone apps so long as the developer allows it, running iPadOS alone could, in theory, work. If Apple were to go so far to invent a new term for it, such as iFoldOS, saying the developers can now explicitly choose on what resolution the app will run. MKBHD and his Waveform podcast recently covered the issue of iPhone Fold, in one which they went over how Apple could orient apps per the size of the currently open screen.

On Apple’s platform, I would argue the shareholders may not love the idea of iPhone Fold potentially running on iPadOS, or being able to run tablet apps from Apple ecosystem. iPad, though relatively small compared to the iPhone’s, has majority shares in the tablet market. If iPhone Fold were to run the iPad apps, it will introduce some interests from developers who originally didn’t find the idea of supporting tablets enticing. However, I doubt the interest will transfer over to iPads; it will essentially be an iPod Touch of the foldable smartphone market.

On a personal note, I’m curious to see how many of the apps that currently disabled iPad’s iPhone app compatibility would react to the announcement of the new OS or the new hardware. Will the developers limit it once again from being run on unfolded wide screen? Or will the developers limit it from being run on iPhone Fold completely? Or, perhaps they start supporting iPads as well? It’s a one tall order that most reviewers expect the iPhone company to come out with an answer for and shape the market forward.