Google’s Android OS can also be installed with Apple iphones, to avail the numerous applications available in the Android market. Android is an operating system for mobile phones, especially smart phones and tablet computers. It was developed by the Google led Open Handset Alliance and the distribution started on November 5, 2007. Android code was released by Google under the free software license, Apache. So this project is mostly a freeware and aims at further development of Android. The OS consists of a kernel based on Linux kernel and other libraries and API’s written in C. Applications for this OS are coded in Java and there are more than thousands of apps available for it, which can be obtained from Android market.
Benefits
There are other benefits for which an Android OS may be installed in an iphone. Some of them are:
a) Android is advantageous regarding apps, you can do multitasking. That is, you can work on multiple apps at the same time which is a limited facility on iphone OS.
b) The features and user setting are also good. It provides a fully customizable user interface and lets you place shortcuts for your favorite apps which is not possible in the iphone OS.
c) Provides a notification bar and lets you view all notifications in a single location unlike in iphone OS.
Difficulty level
Moderate
Time required
30 minutes
Resources Required
a) Hacked iphone
b) iphone explorer
c) Android images
d) Patched images
e) Virtual box ubuntu and mac.
Instructions
Preparation before Installation
a) Kill iTunes helper process in task manager and install iphone explorer.
b) Connect the phone to mac and run the explorer.
c) Change the root and select ‘/’ and then browse to private/var.
d) Copy the 5 .img files android, system, cache, userdata and ramdisk and zImage to var directory.
Setup Virtual Box
a) Virtual Box is opened after installation
b) Check if hard disk is selected in virtual media manager in File option
c) Any 32-bit Linux OS, especially Ubuntu . vdi file is selected and added by clicking on the given option
d) Virtual media manager is closed and the details of 32-bit Linux OS are provided in the new option of Machine
e) Name, OS, and version details are given before moving to the next option of setting RAM amount.
f) Then existing HDD is selected along with the .vdi file of ubuntu. New Machine is selected to startup the OS by giving ‘reverse’ as password.
Setup 32-bit Linux system
a) Go to Synaptic Package Manager in the administration of system bar, and giving the password, enter libusb-1.0 add libreadline in the search box and select mark for installation in the respective check boxes
b) Changes are applied and package manager is closed
c) Browser in Linux is opened and openiboot installer is downloaded, extract the zip file and include the extracted folder openiboot in terminal using the command ‘cd’. Then restart iphone in recovery mode
Making Android Work
a) Select iphone (recovery mode) in USB Devices of ubuntu window in the Virtual Box and type ’sudo su’ in terminal, give password.Then type ./loadibec openiboot.img3
b) In the openiboot screen hold down power button and select openiboot console. Then click home.
c) Now select iphone (openiboot mode) and repeat the above process by entering su ./oibc.or./oibc.
d) Then create backup of NOR memory and install, for openiboot to get installed on your
iphone.
Finish
Now after the booting you will get option to choose Android OS or iphone OS. Now get into Android like this:
a) Type ‘reboot’, and ‘Enter’ if oibc is still running in the terminal. In this case openiboot appears, so switch to openiboot console by pressing power button.
b) If oibc is not runnin, and if terminal is not yet open, switch it off and on it again.
c) Android starts booting when you keep holding ‘Home’.
FAQ:
a) How to type the password in the terminal when running the command su ./oibc?
Ans: It’s easy, there won’t be any cursor but you can type it.
b) When the NOR backup operation is performed by typing the command for it, the iPhone
reboots, why is that and how to get rid of this problem?
Ans: Do not copy and paste it from somewhere, Type the whole string by yourself.
c) Why should we install Android OS in my iPhone?
Ans: Mainly Androis OS supports multitasking, which is a reduced facility in Iphone OS. You can run several apps simultaneously by using Androis OS in your iPhone.
Quick tips
If you are a kind of person who is satisfied with the available facilities and apps of iphone OS, then do not go for installing Android OS.
Things to watch out for
a) Make sure you have all the resources before you start your installation process.
b) Follow all the steps given above; else installation may not be proper.