Android Gingerbread Spotted On Apple iPhone

Tom Jowitt,

Developers have demonstrated Android 2.3, commonly known as Gingerbread, running on an iPhone 3G

For those people who cannot live without their daily Android fix, but who want to run the open source mobile operating system on Apple’s hardware, help could be at hand.

Developers have posted an online video demonstration of Android 2.3 (commonly known as Gingerbread) booting and running on an iPhone 3G.

The video has no commentary, but clearly shows the iPhone being rebooted and running either Android 2.3 or the usual Apple iOS.

Dual Booting

The user is given the dual boot option of either using iOS or Android 2.3, thanks to the OpeniBoot software.

The ability to run the Android OS on Apple devices comes from developers at the iDroid Project, whose self stated goal is to fully port the Linux kernel and the Google Android OS to Apple’s iDevices. Its FAQ page explains that its long term intention is to eventually replace iOS on Apple handsets.

The development comes at a time when Apple’s iOS is coming under increasing pressure from Android. According to ComScore, Android has now surpassed iOS in the United States, grabbing 26 percent market share compared to Apple’s 25 percent share, through the three-months ending in November 2010.

But what makes this porting of Android 2.3 so noteworthy is the fact that Gingerbread is rarely seen on any smartphones at the moment, and certainly not Apple handsets. Indeed, many Android users have only received the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update in the last couple of months.

That said, in November it was revealed that Gingerbread was heading for Google’s Nexus One smartphone and at Christmas the Nexus S was launched with Android 2.3 onboard.

Other Ports

It should also be noted that this is certainly not the first time that non-Apple approved software has been spotted running on Apple hardware.

In July last year for example, a developer by the name of Comex ported the plug-in of Adobe’s Flash for Android-based devices, so that it worked on the iPad. Comex cheekily called the program “Frash”.

That hack was a result of the ongoing frustration felt by many Apple users regarding Steve Jobs’ fierce opposition to Flash technology.

Since then, Apple has officially approved an app that finally allow millions of Apple users using iOS-based devices to watch Flash videos, thanks to the Skyfire web browser that streams Flash video back to an Apple device using the HTML5 format.