The most copied thing on the new iPhone? A several-second animation that has already been successfully run on a Samsung

When Apple unveiled its first foldable phone on Wednesday, it was expected what competitors would copy from it. The answer came quickly and is quite unexpected — it’s not about the display, nor the hinge, but about a several-second animation that starts when the device is unfolded.

Blurred Glass Instead of an Unpleasant Jump

The principle is simple. When folding and unfolding, the image momentarily blurs, as if you were opening a transparent window, and only then settles on the new surface. This eliminates the unpleasant jump that usually occurs with foldables when content transitions from one display to another. It’s not an unnoticeable detail — and yet, within a few days, a Reddit user imitated it on a Galaxy Z Fold 8, using the phone’s hinge sensors. According to a Chinese tech blogger, local manufacturers are also carefully examining the animation, and someone reportedly already has a functional version.

A Galaxy Z Fold 8 owner recreated the iPhone Duo's unfolding animation.

– Shared on Reddit by u/moomanjohnny in r/GalaxyFold
– iPhone Duo has been out barely a day
– The app reads Fold 8 hinge angle data and moves the animation as you open it
– Android has supported hinge angle… pic.twitter.com/V3dXNszRaE

— SammyGuru (@sammygurus) September 10, 2026

We’ve Seen This Before

Apple has a rich history in this regard. The infamous notch became a template for the entire market, and Dynamic Island launched a wave of software overlays around cutouts on Android phones. The Control Center and app-switching gestures from the iPhone X are now taken for granted by practically everyone. The unfolding animation fits into the same category — it’s not a hardware innovation, which makes it easy prey.

The Circle Closes

Na celé věci je pikantní jedna okolnost. Krátký a širší tvar iPhonu Duo, kterým se Apple chlubí, totiž první představilo Oppo u modelu Find N2 — a to už před několika lety. Apple si tedy vzal konstrukci od čínských průkopníků a na oplátku jim dodal softwarový nápad, který teď kopírují oni.

Whether Samsung comes out with an official version sooner within One UI, or someone from China does, the result will be the same. Foldables have been battling a reputation for being thick and heavy experiments for years, and a smoother transition between displays provides them with precisely the layer of refinement they have lacked until now.

Are animations an unnecessary flourish for you, or do they make the phone pleasant to use?

Source: Notebookcheck, DCS