For many years, macOS has been used on non- Apple computers, thanks to tools called Hackintosh. But when it comes to the iOS mobile operating system, almost no one can run it on other devices, at least for now.
A developer has successfully simulated the first version of the iPhone operating system on a computer, something no one had done before, according to 9to5mac.
iPhone OS 1.0 is simulated without iPhone hardware
Martijn de Vos, also known as devos50, is a software developer that has done something that no one has been successful at before.
He used many reversal techniques to simulate the first version of the first-generation iPhone operating system.
The project took more than a year to get into operation as developers had to find a way to simulate things like multi-point touch support and other hardware components.
In a blog post, Martijn de Vos explained that the complicated part is simulating hardware components. This is the reason why the developer chose to emulate the first build-up of the iPhone operating system created for the iPod instead of the iPhone, because to make the iPhone version work, he would have to emulate more components.
At the same time, Martijn de Vos also chose the iPhone OS 1.0 because this version has much less security than recent operating system versions.
Modern Apple devices that contain multiple additional hardware components, such as security sheets and multiple sensors, will make simulating those devices much more difficult and time-consuming, explains the developer.
The project only became a reality thanks to OpeniBoot, an open source source source code of the starting file from Apple. Although it has been inactive for a long time, it allows users to do things like installing the Android operating system on the first generations of iPhone and iPod touch.
Is the project really operating?
Despite some errors, Martijn de Vos's project seems quite useful, and the iPhone OS 1.0 has been successfully simulated with QEMU, an open source virtual platform.
The system can now be navigated completely with a chuot and keyboard, and most pre-implemented applications work well.
There were some situations that caused the system to crash, but seeing an iOS version simulated on another platform was still extremely impressive.
The developer also noted that this may be the first time someone has tripled the iPhone operating system using open source tools.
Creating your own virtual machine is not easy, but de Vos shared all the details in a blog post for those interested in it.
For his next project, Martijn de Vos wants to emulate the second-generation iPod touch, released alongside the iPhone OS 2.1.
