Cider – a system that allows iOS apps to run on Android

A research group at Columbia University is developing a system that can run iOS and Android apps together on an Android device. The prototype runs on a Nexus tablet with the latest version of Android, and according to the team, only adds ‘modest performance overheads’ to the system.

The system is called Cider, and is designed to run Android and iOS apps on the same device. It’s an ‘enhancement’ of Android that mimics aspects of other operating systems, in this case iOS, to allow it to run unmodified ‘foreign’ apps. The report says Cider is the first system to be able to run unmodified iOS apps on non-Apple devices.

As a research project, Cider is a cool proof of concept, although we’d really like to see it in action. You can see some screenshots of iOS apps running in Android below, and read the full academic paper by clicking on the source link at the end of this article.

The authors say the idea was to solve a problem that users face today. You can use iOS, which limits your screen size and customization, or Android, which means you can’t use many of the high quality apps available on iOS. However, it’s unlikely that a system like this would ever receive support from Apple (or Google). It might have a future in the same grey area where iOS Jailbreaks exists, but probably not as a commercial product.

Source: Columbia University

Follow Jonathan on Twitter @jonathanriggall

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