The new app recreates the feeling of using a cassette player on Apple’s first foldable iPhone.

Apple’s new iPhone Duo hasn’t even reached customers yet, but developers are already finding creative ways to use its foldable design. One of the most fun examples so far is Duo-Man, a new app that turns the iPhone Duo into a virtual Walkman-style cassette player.

Created by indie developer Vidit Bhargava at the Bitrig hackathon, the app uses the Duo’s two screens and hinge to recreate the ritual of loading and playing a cassette. The project has already attracted more than 2 million views on X, prompting Bhargava to develop the idea beyond its original hackathon demo.

How Duo-Man works

The concept is deliberately simple.

Open the iPhone Duo and the larger 7.6-inch inner display becomes the place to browse your music and select a virtual cassette. Once you’ve “inserted” your chosen tape, close the phone and the 5.4-inch outer display becomes your Walkman-style player.

It’s a clever use of the hardware rather than simply putting a retro skin over a conventional music player. The physical act of opening and closing the phone becomes part of the listening experience.

Bhargava has also gone further with the details. As demonstrated in his original post, he recorded the button clicks and static from a real Walkman and incorporated those sounds into the app.

Duo-Man is currently a working project using local music files, with plans to connect Apple Music before its full release. Bhargava has also discussed adding Apple Pencil controls for “rolling” the cassette loop, more authentic fast-forward and rewind interactions, and potentially Spotify support in the future.


Why the virtual Walkman makes sense

At first, Duo-Man might seem like a fun novelty project. But it arrives at an interesting time for music listening.

Retro technology is having another moment. Recent reporting has highlighted renewed interest in CDs, cassette players, wired headphones and other physical formats, particularly among younger listeners who didn’t necessarily grow up with them.

Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report revealed that CD sales were up 16% in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, The Guardian recently reported on the broader trend of moving away from phone-based listening to the likes of CD and vinyl.

Duo-Man seems to find a middle ground between phone-based and these nostalgic listening habits. It doesn’t bring back cassette tapes themselves, but it does recreate the ritual around them: choosing a tape, opening the player, pressing physical-feeling controls and settling into a listening session.

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What it means for independent artists

For independent musicians, the Duo-Man story is another reminder that how people experience music can be just as interesting as the music itself.

Retro-inspired artwork, physical merchandise, cassette editions, throwback visuals and short-form content can all give a release a stronger identity. But the most effective use of nostalgia is usually the one that connects naturally with the music rather than simply following a trend.

It can also be a useful way to bring older releases back into the conversation. Thanks to films, television, and social trends on platforms like TikTok, older songs continue to be found by new audiences years after release. Keeping your catalogue available means those opportunities remain open.

With RouteNote, you can distribute your music to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, TikTok and other major platforms for free. And if Duo-Man is able to connect to streaming platforms ahead of release, your music could one day be played on a virtual cassette player too. Who would have thought?

Distribute your music to streaming platforms everywhere for free with RouteNote today.