Have you ever wondered what an iPhone would look like if it were running the Android operating system of Google instead of Apple's iOS? Well, wonder no longer, as development studio Tendigi has made it possible.
Developer Nick Lee, through a post on the official Tendigi blog, unveiled a special 3D-printed case for the iPhone to make the combination work.
"The main inspiration was the intense feelings Android and iOS users have about each other," Lee told The Next Web. "I said to myself — 'What if you could have it all on one device?'"
Lee is no stranger in booting up Apple devices with non-iOS platforms, including a feat back in April when he was able to get Windows 95 running on the Apple Watch. It takes about an hour for the operating system to boot on the wearable device, and a motor was needed to be attached to the Apple Watch's crown to prevent the screen of the device from turning it off, but aside from those limitations, Windows 95 was fully functional.
To get Android into the iPhone, Lee said through his blog post that he took advantage of the fact that Google's operating system is entirely open source through the Android Open Source Project, maintained by the Open Handset Alliance. He was able to develop a customer version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to run on a Lemaker HiKey board, which he combined with a 3D-printed iPhone case that he got the plans for from Thingiverse.
In addition to the board, the case contains a boost converter, a battery and a resistor. After a first prototype that looked too bulky, the design was slimmed down into what resembles a battery case for a smartphone. The new design also incorporates openings for USB and HDMI ports, along with an SD card slot — all of which are not present in the iPhone.
Once the case is connected to the Lightning port of the iPhone, the Android operating system can be launched directly. A video that Lee uploaded showed him using different functions, including connecting to Wi-Fi, accessing the Google Play Store and using the calculator app.
In essence, the case functions as an entirely separate Android smartphone that uses the iPhone as a screen and control device to circumvent Apple's restrictions on launching third-party executable code on the smartphone. The project can be considered as a proof of concept more than anything, as there is really no benefit to having Android run on an iPhone, but it is a particularly cool one.
