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Hackers and independent software developers have reportedly succeeded in running iOS on Android-based phones. One experiment called ios-sweet brings iOS 16 to the Redmi Note 10 Pro, although most essential device functions remain unavailable. The achievement has been described as the first attempt to run the iPhone operating system on a phone outside Apple’s hardware ecosystem.
iOS 16 on the Redmi Note 10 Pro
A clip viewed more than 2 million times on the X platform shows iOS 16 running on a Redmi Note 12. Another demonstration also shows the operating system running on a Nothing 3a. Meanwhile, the ios-sweet project was specifically developed to run iOS 16 on the Redmi Note 10 Pro.
The ios-sweet developers used Apple’s publicly accessible XNU and modified it to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G. XNU is a core iOS component that connects the chip, RAM, and storage. After adapting the core component, the developers installed the original iOS 16.7.16 system files from the iPhone X without modifying them.
On the Redmi Note 10 Pro, the system successfully reaches the lock screen, home screen, Control Center, and Settings. The touchscreen and physical buttons can also respond to user input. The project’s development results have been shared publicly on GitHub.
Essential Features Do Not Yet Work
Successfully displaying the iOS interface does not mean the Redmi Note 10 Pro can replace an iPhone. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular data, audio, and cameras cannot be used at all. Gestures or commands for exiting applications also do not work.
The project does not yet support GPU functionality. As a result, the entire display rendering process must be handled by the CPU, with performance limited to 20 to 30 frames per second. The developers emphasized that ios-sweet is only an experiment or technical test, not an operating system ready for everyday use.
Users who want to try the code also face serious risks. The installation process will erase user data and disable the device’s security protections. These conditions make the experiment more suitable for development work than for use on a primary phone.
Other Projects and the History of Such Experiments
The OOSexGang group is also developing a project called HackiOS, which is claimed to run iOS 16.5 on the Poco X5 Pro. They use a custom Unified Extensible Firmware Interface to connect and initialize the hardware components before iOS loads, allowing XNU to run.
The HackiOS code has not been shared publicly. Its latest demonstration shows Safari downloading an Android application from APKMirror, but the application fails to open, as it would on an iPhone. Its developers said the project is entering the final refinement stage and will be released for free and made publicly available if successful.
According to Decrypt, previous cross-operating-system experiments took place in the opposite direction. The iDroid project allowed early-generation iPhones to run Android in April 2010. Ten years later, Sandcastle succeeded in running Android 10 on an iPhone with an Apple A10 chip. However, running iOS on a phone other than an iPhone had reportedly never succeeded before.
Pushing the Boundaries of Devices and Systems
Experiments like these are advancing alongside the use of AI to assist with code writing and debugging. Reverse Engineer Anything, a free toolkit, also enables AI programming assistants to analyze code structures and deconstruct them. One cited example is a demonstration of GTA V on iOS.
Efforts to push beyond hardware and software limitations are also related to device longevity. Manufacturers generally sell devices locked to their operating systems. When software reaches end-of-life status, devices may lose the ability to run certain applications. Alternative operating systems and cross-platform booting are seen as potentially opening new possibilities for older or more affordable devices.
