The holiday 2020 release of Microsoft’s dual-screen Android smartphone, the Surface Duo might be 11 months away, but Microsoft has remained relatively quiet about the device. With the announcement of a new software development kit (SDK) though, some of the first technical details about the displays and other aspects of the much-anticipated device have just become public.
First, there are the specifications of the screen. According to a tweet from Windows Central’s Zac Bowden, the Surface Duo will sport a resolution of 1,350 x 1,800 on each of the two displays. This hasn’t been confirmed, but if true, it would give the displays a pixel density of around 401 pixels per inch.
Compared to Samsung’s dual-screen Galaxy Fold, the difference is quite substantial. Samsung’s foldable smartphone sports 1,680 x 720 resolution when folded into 4.6 inches, and 2,152 x 1,536 when unfolded into a 7.3-inch screen.
Microsoft’s own blog post about the new SDK also dives into how developers can find the information on how to build experiences for the Surface Duo. This reveals that the company is working on CSS, JavaScript, APIs and web standards for dual-screen devices, and also support for dual-screen Progressive Web Apps.
More importantly, though, the company explains that dual-screen devices can deliver “apps to delight people in a new and innovative way.” through various experiences with the screens.
Different dual-screen app patterns
For the average person, though, what matters most is how these apps will come to the screen. Much like on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Microsoft says now the screens on Surface Duo and other dual-screen devices will provide different app patterns. These include “Extended Canvas,” “Two Page,” “Dual,” and “Companion Pane.” Microsoft also explains that apps will have a single-screen view by default but can be spanned to cover both screens when the device is put into double-portrait or double-landscape layout.
In addition to the Surface Duo, Microsoft also teased some more information about how developers can code their apps for Windows 10X and dual-screen Windows devices like the Surface Neo. The company will soon be releasing the Microsoft Emulator, which lets developers deploy and test their existing apps for dual-screen setups and Windows 10X. The emulator will simulate Windows 10X, and show how apps can interact with the new operating system.