As an open-source system, Android users enjoy the most freedom,from Flyme to MIUI, and to LineageOS, there are endless options to choose from.
However, very few Android users choose to install iOS because it is very difficult.
iOS is a closed-source system, with compatibility issues in drivers, encryption technology, baseband protocols, file systems, and boot chains.
Flashing also needs to be convenient; with so many incompatibilities, who would want to try? Therefore, very few people do it.
Although it is difficult, it is not entirely impossible. Recently, someone developed an emulator.
Earlier this year, enthusiast Hikari no Yume created the iOS emulator touchHLE, which can run on Mac and Windows PCs.
Recently, developer ciciplusplus also ported touchHLE to the Android platform, allowing it to run some apps from the iOS system.
However, this emulator can only run older versions of iOS, and the number of apps that can run is limited, mostly older versions.
From the demo released by ciciplusplus, we can see that the emulator successfully ran the iOS game Super Monkey Ball.
Since it can only run older iOS versions, which version should we choose? It can’t run iOS 16, but iOS 11 or 12 might be acceptable.
Want to run iOS 12? Think again! Remove the leading 1, this emulator can only run iOS 2 released in 2008.
To be precise, “iOS 2” should be called “iPhone OS 2.X”, as Apple did not rename the system to iOS until 2010.
In 2023, running a system from 2008 on a phone… it’s unfortunate, but this emulator can only go so far.
It seems that the iOS system is indeed a no-go zone for flashing, and the emulator can only run ancient versions, which is why most people are indifferent to flashing iOS systems.
Flashing iOS on Android phones is difficult, but what about flashing Android on an iPhone?
Recently, a foreign team called Corellium has broken the boundaries between iPhone and Android, running Android on iPhones.
The team launched a project called the Sandbox Project, which allows Android to be flashed on iPhones.
However, the project supports very few models, only iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, leaving full-screen iPhones basically out of luck.
The project is still in the experimental stage, with many unfinished aspects, such as GPU, audio, phone network, Bluetooth, and camera, which do not work properly.
Whether it’s Apple flashing Android or Android flashing Apple, both are relatively niche, and the act of flashing itself carries a certain sense of the times.
The rise of phone flashing occurred during a time when phones were not very complete; back then, phones had few functions, and software optimization was poor, leading many to choose flashing to improve their experience.
Now, phones have sufficiently complete functions, and features that previously required flashing, rooting, or installing frameworks can now be easily achieved with the stock system.
Since the functions are adequate, users naturally become lazy and unwilling to tinker, even those who enjoy flashing between Apple and Android may only do it for novelty.
Moreover, phone manufacturers are also using various means to restrict flashing; Corellium’s emulator project has even faced lawsuits from Apple.
Phone manufacturers limit flashing mainly to enhance system experience while tightening Bootloader permissions, further compressing the survival space for flashing.
In time, the act of flashing may very well become a historical term; who knows?
