If you are an iPhone user, I wonder if you’ve ever thought about what it would be like to run the Android OS on your iPhone? I agree that it’s quite a wacky idea, but thanks to developer Nick Lee the gentlemen behind the recent Apple Watch running Windows 95 concoction. You can now run the Android OS on your iPhone… Seriously!!
Android OS Case for iPhone
Lee is the CTO of Tendigi and also a home-brew developer, who loves to tinker around with idea’s that most people can only think of. As I mentioned previously, in an earlier project he managed to have an Apple Watch run Windows 95. And in this hie latest project he has created a custom 3D printed case that is loaded with some cool electronics, which enable an iPhone to run the Android OS.
Why the Android OS?
This question is an easy one, it’s pretty safe to assume that most Android users have thought about what it would be like to use iOS and vice versa. So it seems quite logical that Nick would want to create a gadget that allows at least one of these scenarios to happen.
How does it Work?
For this project, Lee discovered that there was a little more work to be completed than with the previous. As he needed to produce a 3D printed case that has a circuit board, a battery, an internal resistor and a boost board all buried within the case.
In his pursuit of near perfection Lee has gone through many different iterations of the case, in order to perfect its design and enable it to keep as much of a low profile as possible. Thinking ahead (being practical) he has also left openings and cutouts for a mini HDMI and USB ports, plus an opening for an SD card.
As for how he has managed to embed the Android OS into the case, this part comes from a clone of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This is used for building a custom Android version of Marshmallow, which can be installed directly onto the installed circuit board. So now when all of the parts are connected together, this means the case and the iPhone the Android OS is booted from the iPhone’s home screen. From the video and images that I’ve seen it looks as though this happens through a custom Tendigi app.
Final Thoughts
As you can probably imagine, this is not something that the average iPhone user is going to have the ability to reproduce. As it requires that a person have some serious understanding of electronics hardware and a serious understand of the software’s involved. However, like with many of Nick Lee’s projects, this latest is an extremely interesting insight into what is possible if you know how!
Personally, I would like to know if this case will ever come to market? However, I seriously doubt either Apple or Google would be happy with that do you?
Images and Video Source: Tendigi
