This might sound like a lot – but it is a real thing. With Project Sandcastle, you can actually install Android on an iPhone.
The co-founders of the project have also managed to port Android to the original iPhone (the first edition).
Now, along with a team of developers, they have made it possible for you to install Android on an iPhone.
For now, you would notice that only iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus are supported.
To do that yourself, you need to Jailbreak your device. Once done, you can proceed to try installing Android on your device.
As far as we know, the operation is not perfect (in beta)- however, the developer team is actively working on it to run Android flawlessly on the iPhone.
If this project succeeds in what it promises, you could just breathe life to your old iPhone or simply switch to Android without needing to get another smartphone.
Of course, Apple will not support it officially – but after you get the device for yourself, you can make your choices.
It is worth noting that this could void your existing warranty on the phone and is only advisable for experienced tinkerers.
There can be a lot of use-cases of Project Sandcastle as well. We shall keep an eye out on its development to report back the important bits.
Android ports often get huge development support thanks to the shared hardware of the ARM ecosystem. Something like the Nintendo Switch normally wouldn’t have a scrap of pre-existing Android code to its name, but the Switch’s Nvidia Tegra SoC is also used in Android devices. This is true for most of the devices, since Qualcomm, Nvidia, Mediatek, and other brands all sell their SoC to a wide consumer base—if you want to port Android, a good first step is to find another device with similar hardware that is already running Android and start with its code base. In the case of the iPhone this strategy doesn’t work because it has an Apple SoC, which is only used in Apple devices, so there is truly no pre-existing Android code to work from. You’ve got to write drivers from scratch.
The builds are labeled “beta” right now, and the status page paints a picture of an extremely early release. The iPhone 7 build is the best developed for now and while the page says the CPU, storage, display, and touchscreen works, things like the GPU, camera, Bluetooth, audio, and cellular do not. There’s enough working to boot up, but don’t expect a lot of functionality.
The project has only been underway for “less than a month,” according to the site. To have a functional beta out in that amount of time is impressive, so hopefully, we’ll see more progress soon.
