Researchers run iOS apps on Android

Columbia University students have built a framework that allows iOS applications to run on Android. Cider framework support is still limited and speed is slow, but some iOS apps already run on a Nexus 7.

The Cider software layer emulates not an iPhone nor using a virtual machine; the developers use techniques such as compile time code adaptation and diplomatic functions to trick iOS apps with Cider as a kernel into thinking they run on an iOS kernel instead of the Linux kernel used in Android. The necessary iOS library files and frameworks are also offered by Cider to the iOS app, so that the code for an iOS app does not have to be modified.

Using this method, the students have been able to run apps like Yelp and Apple iBooks on a Nexus 7 tablet, as shown in a video. The applications are still running slowly and apps that call on sensors, such as GPS, do not yet work. The translation for OpenGL ES code has also not yet been optimized. However, Android software will continue to run when Cider is active, so that iOS software can be run alongside Android apps in the future. The developers promise to continue developing Cider, but the source code is not yet publicly available.