Developer Plans to Turn DuoMan Walkman Demo Into an App

Developer Vidit Bhargava demonstrated DuoMan, a virtual Walkman app designed for Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone Duo, and said he plans to develop the hackathon project into a finished app. The demo won second place at a Bitrig hackathon in San Francisco, according to reports, but no release date has been announced. DuoMan uses the phone’s hinge and two screens to recreate the basic ritual of loading and playing a cassette. With the device open, users can browse music and select a virtual tape. Closing it shifts the experience to the outer screen, where playback can be controlled. The app uses digital music rather than physical cassettes. Bhargava said he recorded button clicks and static from a real Walkman to give the interface sounds associated with the original portable cassette players. The project was built for Bitrig’s development environment and presented at its recent hackathon. Its second-place finish and online attention helped prompt Bhargava to take the concept beyond the event, he said. The planned app is not yet a released product. Bhargava has said he intends to add support for Apple Music and local music files.