THE The iPhone Duo has been officially released for less than a week, but concerns about left-handed use persist. In this week Writing in the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (the outlet’s chief Apple correspondent) says that early left-handed owners say it’s not really a problem. A new accessibility mode for the outdoor screen is coming, he says. However, what it describes is not the same as Samsung’s one-handed mode rival. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 has it.
Accessibility for left-handed people
Since the iPhone DuoThe user interface was revealed in September, showing that Apple had moved the navigation bar and other controls all the way to the right of its outer display, accessibility issues emerged among potential buyers.
The iPhone Duo’s exterior display keeps the dock and controls on the right. | Apple Picture
One group in particular has been singled out as being most affected by this change, left-handed users, as they should stretch the most on the screen to reach said controls. However, according to Gurman, early usage reports from left-handed owners and reviewers of the Duo do not appear to consider this to be as big of an issue as initially thought. One of the points Gurman makes is that using the phone’s internal screen isn’t a problem for left-handed people, since most people use it with two hands anyway.
A The report claims that Apple has said an accessibility mode will arrive later this year, although no date has been officially given for that rollout. Gurman says this mode will move the main content to the left or right of the outer screen, unlike the old iPhone accessibility mode that minimized content.
Accessibility vs. one-handed mode
This means Accessibility Mode will arrive later as a software patch, and all early Duo buyers will have to live with the right-side controls until then. Apple’s Accessibility Mode first arrived with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 2014, was off by default and lowered the top of the screen to within thumb’s reach.
The unique thing about Duo is that the outer screen is wider and shorter than that of previous iPhones, so the problem extends upwards rather than upwards. For this reason, the Duo version of Reachability will move content sideways rather than down.
On the other hand, Samsung’s one-handed mode on the Fold 8 series can be activated with a single gesture or a double press of the home button. It then shrinks the screen down, in which case it can be moved to 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 only just catching up in this regard.
What to do now if you are left-handed
Left-handed and right-handed users who tend to hold their phone in their left hand are currently most affected, as reaching the dock on the right side is the problem. If you are in one of these categories and are considering purchasing a iPhone DuoIt would be beneficial to try one at an Apple Store first to see if it works for you.
iPhone Duo accessibility patch is late to the party
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the accessibility fix is coming, but honestly, for a phone this expensive, it really should have been there from day one. I’m not left-handed and don’t have a Duo yet, but I tend to hold my phone in my left hand like I did with the Z-fold 8. I’m curious if accessibility will also appear on the inner screen, since Gurman only mentioned the outer screen.
Learn more about iPhone Duo and left-handed use:
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