Videos showing Apple's iOS 16 booting on Android phones have spread across X, including a clip posted October 18 showing iOS on a Redmi Note 12 that has surpassed 2 million views. Another developer has demonstrated a build running on a Nothing 3a.

The projects are experimental and far from delivering a usable iPhone-like experience. The open-source ios-sweet project combines Apple's XNU kernel with unmodified iOS 16.7.16 files from an iPhone X and patches the system to run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 732G chip.

Apple builds iOS—the software responsible for everything from an iPhone's touchscreen to its applications—to run on the company's own hardware. In practice, consumers have traditionally chosen a phone and its operating system together. These experiments challenge that separation by attempting to run Apple's software on inexpensive Android devices that were never sold with it. The work leans on Apple's own release practices: the company keeps iOS itself proprietary, but publishes the XNU kernel as open source, giving these ports a starting point they would otherwise lack.

Android has previously been ported to iPhones. The iDroid project allowed early iPhones to boot Android in April 2010. About a decade later, security firm Corellium launched Project Sandcastle, which brought Android 10 to iPhones using Apple's A10 chip. The reverse process—running iOS on Android hardware—has now become the focus of several independent efforts.

One project, known as HackiOS, is attempting a full code rewrite to run actual iOS on Android hardware. A researcher identified as Md Ismail Šojal said the project was in its final polishing stage and would be completely free and open if completed.

WTf, Running real iOS on Android hardware. HackiOS is attempting a full code rewrite to run actual iOS on Android hardware. They're in the final polishing stage. If it works, the project will be completely free and open no paywalls, no premium tiers. pic.twitter.com/oQywSdi9Y5 — Md Ismail Šojal (@0x0SojalSec) October 16, 2026

The closest publicly available code is ios-sweet, an open-source project built for the Redmi Note 10 Pro. It uses XNU, the kernel Apple publishes openly, and patches it to communicate with the phone's Snapdragon 732G processor. Unmodified iOS 16.7.16 files from an iPhone X then run on top of the kernel.

The project's README describes ios-sweet as an “experimental bring-up, not a usable phone OS.” According to the developers, the Redmi Note 10 Pro can reach the lock screen, home screen, Control Center and Settings, while the touchscreen and physical buttons respond.

The limitations are substantial. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, audio and the camera do not work. The gesture used to leave an application has no effect, and the lack of a graphics driver means the phone's processor renders the display at approximately 20 to 30 frames per second. The first boot takes four to five minutes while the device remains on Apple's logo.

A separate group calling itself OOSexGang says its HackiOS project runs iOS 16.5 on a Poco X5 Pro using a custom UEFI—the firmware that starts a device—and the XNU kernel. The researcher who shared the demonstration said that no public source code or independent verification was available. Until a release appears, that project's claims rest on its own demonstrations rather than code outsiders can inspect.

In a newer demonstration, Safari downloads an Android application file from APKMirror and then fails to open it. That behavior is consistent with iOS not supporting Android APK applications.

iOS 16.5 just Running on an Android phone hardware. and it can't open Apk because of iOS, Safari pulls an APK from APKMirror, then fails to run it. New HackiOs/OOSexGang demo it can be soon public release pic.twitter.com/TGclBWllxp — Md Ismail Šojal (@0x0SojalSec) October 19, 2026

The broader effort to run software in environments for which it was not designed has attracted additional interest as AI tools have made it possible to develop and improve code more quickly. Days before these iOS demonstrations, security firm Calif.io jailbroke an iPhone 18 Pro onstage at the Hexacon conference in Paris. The root access survived a reboot. Jailbreaking removes Apple's restrictions and gives users deeper control over an iPhone.

Another tool associated with this activity is REA, short for Reverse Engineer Anything. The free toolkit allows AI coding assistants to analyze software. Examples have included a developer demonstration of Grand Theft Auto V running on iOS.

For now, the practical limit of iOS on a Redmi Note 10 Pro is reaching the iOS home screen. Wireless connectivity, mobile data and audio remain unavailable, the processor draws the display at roughly 20 to 30 frames per second, and the initial startup can take several minutes. Progress from here will be measured against what the projects themselves list as missing: working drivers for connectivity and audio, and a public HackiOS release that others can verify.

Anyone attempting to install the software should also be aware that the process wipes the phone's Android user data and leaves most security protections disabled. The developers advise users not to keep personal information on the device.

Source: Decrypt