Foldable smartphones have been on the market for almost seven years, but gaming on them is still a weak point. The main reason is not the power of the chips or the refresh rate of the panel, but the geometry of the internal display. The almost square screen breaks the layout of interfaces designed for the elongated format of a regular phone.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold has an internal panel close to a 4:3 ratio, and some mobile games support this format. But not all developers include dynamic scaling in their titles. As a result, the user chooses between a stretched picture and black bars that eat up up to a third of the display area.
A good example is Hearthstone. In full-screen mode with the Fold open, part of the gaming table is simply cut off, and the cards along the edges of the field become impossible to read. The alternative, a framed image, devalues the very idea of a big screen.
The problem is systemic and lies on the side of the publishers. Blizzard has enough resources to adapt the interface to square panels, but the situation has not changed much over the years of the existence of foldable gadgets. A similar picture is observed in dozens of other mobile titles.
The result is predictable – owners of folding smartphones more often run games on the external screen. But there is also a nuance here, because the external panel of flexible models is noticeably narrower than that of classic monoblocks, which creates its own set of inconveniences with control and visibility.
Formally, iPhone Duo risks repeating the same mistakes. Both displays of the new gadget use an unusual aspect ratio of 1.4:1, which is exactly between the usual 16:9 and 4:3. This panel does not reproduce any of these formats natively.
The key difference lies in Apple’s approach to the development ecosystem. The company has already published recommendations for adapting applications to the foldable form factor, and the first point in the document states the requirement to build interfaces that support resizing. Apple’s rules for developers have traditionally been much more binding than similar advice in Android.
The legacy of the iPad also plays an important role. During the presentation, Apple specifically mentioned tablets, and this is no coincidence – most mobile games, including Hearthstone, have long supported different aspect ratios of iPad screens. The requirement for a scalable interface has been written into Apple’s design documentation for many years, and it is thanks to it that applications can be easily transferred between devices.
Google has similar guidance in its documentation, but with a significant caveat. Games are included in a separate category of exceptions, which is why support for folding screens in Android remains a lottery. One title will correctly rearrange the interface, another will stretch the image or crop it at the edges.
Live impressions of the iPhone Duo – 7.6-inch screen, under-display camera and center fold
An additional benefit of the iPhone Duo’s design is that the outer and inner displays use the same aspect ratio. For the developer, this means that the transition between folded and unfolded states is reduced to scaling the same layout, rather than creating two different interfaces. The technical barrier to adaptation is significantly reduced.
It still won’t be possible without a transition period. Adapting large mobile titles to the new form factor will take at least several months after the start of sales, and in the first weeks owners will probably encounter the same black bars.
The difference is that Apple has the leverage to force studios to follow through with support.
