Hello. Any recommendations on approach to placing a camera shutter button in half-open state? Also, other controls, like capture modes, etc. Camera preview is fullscreen.
Hi @max.norb.2,
When designing a camera app with a fullscreen preview on iPhone Duo, use standard layout containers and leverage system guidelines to keep your interface clean and adaptable across both displays. Because iPhone Duo features a dual-display form factor with a hinge and internal/external cameras, the camera preview and surrounding controls must dynamically respond to device resizing and screen transitions.
- Maximize the height and width of your viewfinder so that the camera preview fills the available screen space.
- Position your custom capture controls outside of the system overlay and toolbars to avoid obstructing the user's view.
- Rely on safe area insets and layout margins to prevent UI elements from being clipped by display corners, sensor housings, or the central folding region.
On devices supporting the Camera Control, the system presents an overlay extending from the device bezel for quick adjustments of zoom, exposure, and custom controls. When building your own controls or utilizing system-provided capture features, keep labels short and use standard SF Symbols to denote functionality.
To minimize visual clutter in the viewfinder during capture, avoid duplicating controls that are already exposed via the system overlay. Order frequently used controls toward the middle for easier reach, and ensure buttons maintain an accessible hit region of at least 44x44 points.
Because iPhone Duo features cameras on both sides and can be opened, closed, or partially folded into various poses, the physical direction a camera faces changes dynamically relative to your preview view. Use AVCaptureDeviceDirectionCoordinator to monitor changes in camera direction, and verify whether a camera is facing forward or backward before configuring your capture session inputs. For more info, see Choosing a camera by the direction it faces.
Next, when placing your app on the inner display in a partially folded state, be aware of reserved regions such as the folding area and active front-facing cameras. Framework-provided containers automatically avoid these regions, but custom views should query reservedRegions(kind:options:layoutDirectionBehavior:) in SwiftUI or reservedRegions(kind:options:) in UIKit to reposition content safely away from the hinge.
Lastly, when iPhone Duo is fully open and your app is capturing media using the rear camera, you can present companion content on the outer display using CameraCaptureAccessory. This allows you to display complementary interface elements or animations externally while your main camera preview remains fullscreen on the inner display.
Cheers,
Paris X Pinkney | WWDR | DTS Engineer
