A new app concept is going viral because it turns your iPhone into a dumbphone. The project started as an Apple Music player design posted on Chinese social media. But after it reached over 1.5 million views, people started asking for a real version. After months of coding, the concept is now a free TestFlight beta called UltraPod.
It makes Apple Music look more like a dedicated music player again. To make the experience more immersive, the developer even made a dedicated case for it.
It is basically an iPhone pretending to be a smarter iPod
UltraPod’s music section integrates with Apple Music through MusicKit and also supports high-res local files. The app leans into old-school music-player nostalgia with a classic Cover Flow-style interface, which is exactly the sort of thing Apple fans keep asking for every few years.
The developer also built 15 mini-apps into the system, including Books, Fitness, Camera, Photos, Voice Memos, Notes, Calendar, Stopwatch, Clock, Contacts, Screen Lock, Shuffle, Settings, and Extras. The Books app can import EPUB, TXT, and Markdown files, while the Camera section uses retro-style LUTs for simple captures without instantly throwing users back into editing and posting mode.
How the case pulls it all together
The developer even designed a 3D-printable case that an iPhone can slide into. The case would block most of the screen, forcing the phone into a more focused layout and keeping distracting apps out of sight. With digital detox being something a lot of people are looking for, the case makes the experience more focused on an iPhone people already own.
UltraPod is currently free in TestFlight with limited slots, and it requires iOS 16 or later. iPad support exists, but the developer says the tablet layout may still have UI issues.