Google Maps 26.44.4 Adds Full iPhone Duo Dual-Screen Support

Q: How does Google Maps' new split-screen layout change the way we navigate the physical world using foldable devices?

Google Maps’ new split-screen layout makes foldable navigation more continuous and less disruptive by keeping related views visible at the same time instead of forcing users to jump between screens. On the iPhone Duo’s inner display, Maps now uses an iPad-like wide interface: search, menus and controls sit on the left, while the map fills the rest of the screen. That matters because navigation is no longer a one-view-at-a-time experience. A user can browse places, routes or options while still seeing their geographic context, reducing the need to tap in and out of menus and helping preserve orientation. Street View shows the clearest change in real-world use. It now opens beside the map rather than replacing it, letting users compare ground-level imagery with their position on the map at once. That can make last-meter navigation easier when trying to identify the correct entrance, corner or building in dense urban areas. If the phone is folded shut, Street View shifts to the outer display, preserving continuity instead of interrupting the task. More broadly, the update shows how foldables can change mapping from a sequential process—search, open place, go back, recheck map—into a simultaneous one. The second screen space is being used for context and action together: map plus controls, map plus Street View, route plus information. That does not just make the app look better on a foldable device; it makes mobile wayfinding faster, clearer and cognitively easier.

3 articles · Updated · GSMArena.com · Nov 4

Version 26.44.4 gives Google Maps full support for the iPhone Duo, replacing the earlier stretched single-screen behavior with layouts that use both displays properly.
On the inner screen, the app now adopts a wide interface similar to iPad—menus and search sit on the left while the map expands across the rest of the display.
Street View also uses the extra space: it opens beside the map by default, can expand to full screen, and shifts to the outer display when the phone is closed.
Google's App Store notes mention only bug fixes, even though the update delivers a visible redesign for one of the newest dual-screen iPhones.