Idea
Your iPhone Duo has 2 screens of different sizes and a desk mode, but your widgets were made for one screen. The Duo is Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a 7.6-inch inner screen and a 5.4-inch outer one.
Before the phone even shipped, owners were already asking each other which widgets to put on the larger display. 12 days after launch, one owner went looking for a widget app with lots of options, easy to use, and no subscription.
A widget app for the iPhone Duo that makes the same designs work on both screens and on StandBy. StandBy is the iPhone screen that shows a clock, photos or widgets when you set it down. I like it because a whole new screen shape showed up.
Say it is a desk clock. You pick a face that fills the unfolded inner display, then a compact version for the outer screen.
Why now
- iPhone Duo went on sale with a 7.6-inch inner screen and a 5.4-inch outer screen. A widget builder now has 2 screen sizes to draw for, not one.
- Home Widget, a smart home widget app, had its widgets working on the Duo's 2 screens 1 week before launch. One developer had both-screen widgets working before the phone shipped, so fitting 2 layouts is a known amount of work.
- r/iPhoneDuo, the Reddit forum for the iPhone Duo, gets 1.4M visitors a week. 1.4M weekly visitors means one place to show designs to Duo owners and get them to try the app.
- One Duo owner asked Reddit for a widget app 12 days after launch and offered a one-time fee. One owner's ask 12 days after launch, with an offer to pay once, sets the price shape: a one-time fee, no subscription.
- Zen Flip Clock, a desk clock app with widgets, has 6.2K ratings and sells "Lifetime Pro" at $9.99. A clock widget app charges $9.99 for a lifetime unlock, so a new clock widget has a price to work below.
- Widgy, an app for designing custom widgets, has 26K ratings and sells its widget slots at $7.99. That price stands at an app with 26K ratings, so a one-time unlock under $7.99 has room.
- Widgetsmith, an app for making your own iPhone widgets, has 779K ratings and sells "Premium" from $1.99. An app with 779K ratings shows the market for iPhone widgets is not a small one.
How to validate it
- Spend a day reading r/iPhoneDuo, the Reddit forum for the iPhone Duo, and r/iOSWidgets, a Reddit forum about iPhone widgets. Note which widget types come up most. Check the top-rated apps in Appark, a tool that tracks app rankings, downloads and revenue. Pass: yes: 1 widget type comes up in 3 or more requests
- Pick 1 type to build first, say a desk clock. Sketch 5 designs for both screens with GenDesigns, an AI tool that turns an app idea into mobile screens. Post them in r/iPhoneDuo under the "Duo-App Showcase" label for feedback. Pass: 10 or more owners ask to try it
- Build the first collection of 5 designs owners picked in step 2, using WidgetKit, Apple's toolkit for building widgets. Test each on the outer screen, the inner screen and StandBy. Post a public TestFlight link, Apple's tool for sharing test versions of an app, in the same r/iPhoneDuo thread. Pass: 20 or more owners install it
- Submit the app to the App Store with a free widget and a $4.99 one-time unlock for all 5 designs. Tell every owner who installed the TestFlight version in step 3. Zen Flip Clock's lifetime unlock is $9.99 and Widgy's slots are $7.99, so I would start below both at $4.99. Pass: 2 or more owners pay the $4.99 unlock
Examples like this
Tools to build it
BoringlaunchFeaturedlaunch A service that submits your product to launch directories; lists the widget app at launch. Visit 
GenDesignsdesign An AI tool that turns an app idea into mobile screens; sketches widget designs before you code. Visit 
MockFramedesign A free tool that puts a screenshot in a device frame; makes the App Store screenshots. Visit 
before.clickmarketing A gallery of App Store screenshots; guides how to present the widget listing. Visit 
Apparkanalytics A tool that tracks app rankings, downloads and revenue; checks which widget apps top the charts. Visit 
