Astropad Workbench turns the iPhone Duo into a remote coding tool

Coding from a foldable phone

The iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone, has become a practical remote coding device, according to TechRadar. A writer on the site describes working on a plane last week, making changes to a project that was running on his MacBook Pro at home, without carrying the laptop or an iPad.

The setup relies on Astropad Workbench, an iOS-only remote desktop app that displays the writer's home Mac on the phone. No code is written directly on the iPhone; the heavy work stays on the MacBook, which runs Cursor, an AI-powered code editor, along with local development servers for the writer's projects.

How the remote workflow works

With Workbench running on the iPhone Duo, the writer asks Cursor to make changes through its built-in chat interface, scrolls through the summaries, reviews the results and checks the running build in Cursor's own browser. The MacBook stays at home the whole time.

This approach means the writer does not need to set up logins, SSH keys or local codebases on every device he uses. He says he can simply unfold the phone and continue working, which he reports is far more convenient than pulling out an iPad Pro with a keyboard.

On the Duo he keeps Workbench's unified display mode switched off. That mode resizes the Mac desktop to fit the remote device's screen, but the writer finds it can make switching apps awkward and navigation jittery. Without it, he can pinch and zoom into areas of the desktop, which he finds an effective way to use macOS on a small screen.

A new terminal built for the foldable

A recent addition to Workbench's Duo-optimised app appears to be the biggest change. The app now offers a native terminal interface, so the writer can control the terminal on his Mac remotely without manipulating a macOS Terminal window through the screen viewer.

The terminal can also be shown alongside the remote desktop in a split-screen layout. TechRadar reports that this lets the writer glance between the terminal and Cursor without switching views, addressing long-standing frustrations such as tiny text, awkward cursor placement, input lag and unreliable Delete key behaviour on touchscreens.

According to TechRadar, Astropad built these foldable-specific experiences without access to a retail sample of the iPhone Duo.

Who this matters to and the caveats

The setup will mainly interest developers who already keep a Mac running at home and want to monitor or steer projects while travelling. It also depends on a reliable connection, and the writer notes that unpredictable aeroplane Wi-Fi is a known risk for remote development work.

Several important points are the writer's personal judgements rather than independent findings. His view that Workbench at $79.99 per year is excellent value, and that the Duo has reduced how often he uses his iPad, are opinions he states on TechRadar. The underlying facts, however, are clear: an iOS remote desktop app now supports Apple's foldable with a split-screen terminal, and one developer finds it enough to leave his laptop behind.