How to read manga on iPhone Duo
Updated November 1, 2026.
Open iPhone Duo and the inner display has a fold down the middle, like the spine of a printed book. Manga is drawn as facing pages, so it reads best as a two-page spread. ComicDuo puts the spine of the spread on the fold, reads right to left, and keeps your page when you close the phone. Here is how to set it up.
What you need
- ComicDuo on iPhone Duo (it also runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later).
- DRM-free manga files: CBZ, CBR, PDF, or a folder of images.
Manga bought inside store apps such as Kindle, Shonen Jump, or Viz is locked to those apps by DRM, and ComicDuo can't open it. Files you own outright, from a DRM-free shop or your own scans, work. If your manga lives on a Komga or Kavita server, see Connect Komga, Kavita, or an OPDS server.
1. Add your manga
- In the Library, tap Import (the + button) and pick files or folders from Files, iCloud Drive, or another file provider. You can select several at once.
- Or share a file to ComicDuo from another app, or send it with AirDrop.
- To pick up new volumes automatically, open Settings › Your files › Choose Watch Folder. ComicDuo adds any CBZ, CBR, PDF, ZIP, or RAR file in that folder and its subfolders each time you open the app.
Files you import from Files or iCloud Drive stay where they are. ComicDuo reads them in place and never writes to them.
2. Read right to left
Most manga is tagged in its ComicInfo.xml file, and ComicDuo sets the direction when you import it:
Mangaset toYesAndRightToLeftopens right to left.- No
Mangavalue and a JapaneseLanguageISO(ja) also opens right to left.
When a right-to-left book opens, a “Read from right to left” badge says so; you can dismiss it. To set the direction yourself, tap the middle of the page to show the controls, open the Reading menu, and under Layout turn on Read Right to Left.
The setting belongs to that book, and it syncs to your other devices through your iCloud account. Books streamed from a server have no ComicInfo.xml for ComicDuo to read, so they open left to right; turn the setting on once per book.
In right-to-left mode, everything turns the other way: tapping or swiping the left edge moves forward, the page scrubber fills from the right, and the arrow keys follow the side of the screen. The space bar always moves forward.
3. Open the phone for a spread
On the inner display, ComicDuo shows two pages side by side and lines up the spine with the fold. It pairs the pages the way a printed volume does:
- The cover stands alone. In a right-to-left book it sits on the left half, where a printed manga's cover would be.
- Double-page art stays whole. A page that is clearly wider than it is tall (a two-page spread scanned as one image) fills both halves. A
DoublePageflag inComicInfo.xmloverrides the shape. - Pairs off by one? If a scan is missing a page or has an extra one, every spread after it pairs wrong. Turn on Shift Pages by One under Reading › Layout. Like the reading direction, it's saved for that book.
4. Use each pose
| Pose | What ComicDuo shows |
|---|---|
| Closed | One page on the outer display. Fold the phone shut mid-spread and the page you were reading carries over, and your progress is saved. |
| Open flat | A two-page spread with the spine on the fold. |
| Partially folded, held like a book | Still a spread, with each page moved back from the crease so no art disappears into the fold. |
| Folded like a laptop | One page on the top half. The controls and a chapter list sit on the bottom half. Chapters come from bookmarks in ComicInfo.xml; books without them say “No chapters in this book.” |
Opening into a spread shows the facing page swinging out from the spine. With Reduce Motion on, ComicDuo skips that animation.
5. Choose how pages turn
Under Reading › Page Turn:
- Curl (the default) curls the page like paper. Tap the edges or swipe.
- Paper Curl is a second curl you drag with your finger.
- Slide slides pages sideways.
- No Animation changes pages instantly. Tap the left or right third of the screen.
With Reduce Motion on in iOS Settings, both curls become a slide. To read small text, pinch or double-tap to zoom up to 2× in Curl or Slide. On a keyboard or trackpad, the arrow keys and a horizontal two-finger swipe turn the page.
6. Read at night
Under Reading › Filter, choose Night, Sepia, or Gray. The Night Mode button in the controls bar switches Night on and off. Filters and the page-turn style apply to every book.
On iPhone and iPad
On iPad, ComicDuo shows spreads in landscape and single pages in portrait. On iPhone, turn the phone sideways and turn on Two Pages in Landscape under Reading › Layout. The same option appears on the iPhone Duo outer display in landscape.
Questions
Can ComicDuo scroll webtoons vertically?
No. Pages turn horizontally, one page or one spread at a time.
Does it open EPUB manga?
No. ComicDuo opens CBZ, CBR, PDF, and folders of images.
Does my place sync between devices?
Yes. Reading progress, the reading direction, and the page shift for each book sync through your private iCloud database. The comic files themselves stay where you put them.