Columbia Students Get iOS Apps Running on Android [Video]

Columbia University students have managed to get iOS apps running on Android by creating Cider, an operating system compatibility architecture that can run applications built for different mobile ecosystems.

Cider enhances the domestic operating system, Android, of a device with kernel-managed, per-thread personas to mimic the application binary interface of a foreign operating system, iOS, enabling it to run unmodified foreign binaries. This is accomplished using a novel combination of binary compatibility techniques including two new mechanisms: compile-time code adaptation, and diplomatic functions. Compile-time code adaptation enables existing unmodified foreign source code to be reused in the domestic kernel, reducing implementation effort required to support multiple binary interfaces for executing domestic and foreign applications. Diplomatic functions leverage per-thread personas, and allow foreign applications to use domestic libraries to access proprietary software and hardware interfaces.


Check out a demo video of Cider below. Notably, Android apps can still run on the device even with the OS abstraction layer. While app performance still needs improving, the project is promising. You can find the full research report here.

Read More [via TNW]