Preorders for the upcoming iPhone Duo won’t kick off until later in October, but it might already be showcasing its first standout application. Or at least its most playful! Indie developer Vidit Bhargava has been demonstrating an application for Apple’s inaugural foldable device that emulates the experience of using a vintage Walkman.

The application, named Duo-Man, cleverly utilizes the Duo’s dual screens — a 7.6-inch foldable inner display when opened and a 5.4-inch outer display when closed. The app mimics the functionality of traditional Walkmans: You can open the Duo to select your music and “insert” your cassette tape, then close the device to begin playback.

Naturally, you’re not truly utilizing cassette tapes or physical buttons, but Bhargava mentions he made an effort to make the experience as genuine as possible by recording button clicks and static from a real Walkman to integrate into the application.

“I have been a passionate Walkman fan — I still own one and use it from time to time — and I’ve repurposed them before,” the developer shared with TechCrunch. “When thinking of ideas for the hackathon, I looked for physical items that have hinges. I observed that the Walkman’s lid needed to be opened to insert a cassette, and I thought replicating that with the Duo would be interesting,” he explained.

Although foldable smartphones have been available for several years, the iOS developer community is known for its creativity, aided by Apple’s App Store ecosystem and comprehensive tools that enable developers to create, host, market, and monetize their applications. This is why many developers choose to launch their apps on iOS first before considering expansion onto Android.

Nevertheless, the app also taps into the broader retro technology trend, as younger consumers seek out nostalgic physical tech like digital cameras, flip phones, CDs, landlines, and of course, cassette tapes.

Bhargava first developed the app and demonstrated it at the Bitrig hackathon this past weekend, where it secured second place. Bitrig provides software that allows developers to utilize AI for creating native apps using Apple’s Swift programming language.

After the developer shared Duo-Man on X, it rapidly gained traction, surpassing 1.8 million views and nearly 10,000 likes. This attention has motivated Bhargava to evolve what was initially a fun hackathon endeavor into a genuine application.

Once released, the app will support Apple Music and local files, and will even feature a capability that allows users to use their Apple Pencil to “roll” the cassette loop, we’re informed. On X, Bhargava also indicated that he aims to make the fast-forward and rewind functions akin to the original Walkman experience. Support for Spotify may be added at a later stage.

This isn’t Bhargava’s first venture into app development. The independent developer has launched a dictionary and vocabulary builder, LookUp; a movie recommendation app, Movie Buzz; a time zone utility; and various others.