Pilcrow on iPhone Duo, in pictures: every pose, split or full

Guide · Published 9 November 2026 · 4 min read

iPhone Duo folds, unfolds and turns, and the keyboard has to be right in every one of those. Here is Pilcrow in each pose, the same message typed each time, so you can see what you get before you install it.

In short. Pilcrow draws the keyboard Apple draws in each pose of iPhone Duo: a large-phone keyboard on the outer screen, bigger keys on the inner one, and, open sideways, Apple’s split with one half under each thumb. If you prefer one board across, switch off Split when open sideways. Every theme, language and correction works the same in every pose, and the Duo layouts stay free after the three free days.

Every picture below is the same message, typed letter by letter: “Lumi says yes, see you tomorow”. The slip is left in on purpose, so each screenshot also shows the suggestion bar at work, with tomorrow ready to go in on the next space and the word as typed kept one tap away. Each picture follows your phone’s light or dark setting.

Open sideways, split for two thumbs

This is the pose the Duo was made for, and the one a keyboard from the App Store has to get right on its own: iOS does not split it for you. Opened flat and turned on its side, the inner screen is wide enough that one board across it puts the middle keys out of reach of both thumbs.

iPhone Duo open sideways in a message thread. Pilcrow’s keys are in two halves at the bottom corners, G and V on both halves, the suggestions over the right half: “tomorow” in quotes, tomorrow highlighted, tommorow. — **Split, the default.** Two halves, one under each thumb, laid out the way Apple lays out its own.

The middle letters are on both halves. G sits at the end of the left half and the start of the right, and so does V, so neither thumb has to reach across the gap.
Each half keeps the stagger of the rows, so your thumbs land where they would on a phone.
The space bar’s row splits too: numbers, globe, emoji and the question mark on the left, space, full stop and return on the right.
The suggestions sit over the right half, where Apple’s keyboard puts them, and Pilcrow’s toolbar button sits over the left.

Open sideways, one board across

Some people type on the open Duo with it resting on a table, or with one hand holding it and the other typing. For that, one board across the screen is better. Open Settings › Keys & layout in the Pilcrow app while the Duo is open, and switch off Split when open sideways. The toggle only appears there when the Duo is open. The one-handed button on Pilcrow’s toolbar switches between the two without leaving the message.

iPhone Duo open sideways with Pilcrow as one keyboard across the bottom of the screen, the suggestions in the middle: “tomorow” in quotes, tomorrow highlighted, tommorow. — **Full.** One keyboard across the inner screen, the same choice Apple’s keyboard gives in this pose.

Half open, like a book held sideways, you get the same two choices as flat. Apple’s keyboard does the same, so nothing is lost there.

Open, upright

Held upright, the open Duo is a tall, wide page, and the keyboard spans it with bigger keys than the closed phone has. There is no split here, and none is needed: your thumbs reach every key from the sides.

iPhone Duo open and upright, a message thread above Pilcrow’s full-width keyboard with large keys; the bar offers “tomorow” in quotes, tomorrow highlighted, and tommorow. — Open and upright: one keyboard, bigger keys.

Closed, upright

Closed, the Duo is a regular large iPhone with a screen on the outside, and Pilcrow draws the keyboard of a large iPhone. If you never open it to type, nothing changes from the phone you had before.

iPhone Duo closed and upright, the outer screen showing a message thread above Pilcrow’s phone keyboard; the bar offers “tomorow” in quotes, tomorrow highlighted, and tommorow. — Closed and upright: the large-phone keyboard on the outer screen.

Closed, sideways

Turned on its side, the outer screen is nearly square, much less wide than a long phone on its side. Apple uses a different landscape keyboard here, with taller rows and less width to cover, and Pilcrow draws the same.

iPhone Duo closed and turned sideways, the outer screen nearly square. Pilcrow’s keyboard fills the lower half with tall rows; the bar offers “tomorow” in quotes, tomorrow highlighted, and tommorow. — **Closed and sideways.** Apple’s squarer landscape keyboard, not a stretched phone one.

Your theme comes along

The layout changes with the pose; nothing else does. Your theme, languages, swipe typing and the words Pilcrow has learned are the same whether the phone is open or closed. Here is the split in the Pilcrow theme, one of the themes that stay free after the trial.

iPhone Duo open sideways with Pilcrow split in two halves, in the Pilcrow theme: keycap-coloured letter keys and a mint return key. — **The Pilcrow theme, split.** Keycap-coloured keys and a mint return key in light; navy keys in dark.

What is not there

No dictation key. iOS does not let a keyboard from the App Store have one. Switch to Apple’s keyboard with the globe key to dictate.
The bottom row is Pilcrow’s, with its own key widths and the full stop and question mark keys you can turn on or off. The letter keys are Apple’s, measured to within a point in every pose.
Stood on its edge like a laptop, iOS gives the keyboard more height and Pilcrow’s keys grow to fill it, but not as far as Apple’s own: iOS gives its own keyboard more room there than it gives any other.

How these were made

Every screenshot is the real Pilcrow keyboard, running in Apple’s iPhone Duo simulator on iOS 27.2, captured on 9 November 2026. Each word was typed with taps on the keys, not pasted. The letter keys were measured against Apple’s own keyboard in the same simulator in every pose. We have not yet typed on a real Duo; if yours does something these pictures do not show, write to info@pilcrowtype.com.

Want to know what Apple’s own keyboard does in each pose, and how to split it? That is in The keyboard on iPhone Duo: closed, open, and split for two thumbs.

Screenshots taken 9 November 2026 in Apple’s iPhone Duo simulator, iOS 27.2. If anything here is out of date, write to info@pilcrowtype.com.