A Redmi phone can now boot iOS 16 through an open-source hack - Big Tech and the digital economy

A project known as Hackios has managed to run unmodified iOS 16 files on Android phones by replacing Linux with Apple’s XNU kernel. The experiment remains highly limited, but adaptations for several devices are already under development, with generative AI helping accelerate the work.

Running iOS on non-Apple hardware has long been considered one of the most difficult challenges in mobile modding. That is beginning to change: videos circulating online show iOS 16 booting on Android phones, including Redmi models, thanks to an effort nicknamed “Hackios.”

The project is based on ios-sweet, an open-source initiative hosted on GitHub. It replaces Android’s Linux kernel with XNU, the kernel used by Apple. Since Apple publishes XNU’s source code, developers can adapt it for experiments outside Apple hardware.

ios-sweet provides XNU with a device tree copied from an iPhone X. This description of the hardware makes the kernel behave as though it were running on an Apple phone. The setup then loads unmodified iOS 16 files taken from an iPhone X, although the system is running on Android hardware.

The iPhone X was selected because it is the last iPhone without pointer authentication, a security feature that later software requires. Qualcomm chips such as the one used in the Redmi Note 10 Pro do not support PAC, meaning newer iPhone software would not boot through the same method. As a result, the approach is unlikely to work on more recent phones without further adaptations.

The result is still far from a practical replacement for Android. On the Redmi Note 10 Pro, the system can reach the lock screen, home screen, Control Center and Settings. Touch input and physical buttons also work. However, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, audio, cameras and biometric sensors remain unavailable. Some system apps, including Messages, Phone and Photos, only display a black screen.

There is also no graphics driver, so the interface is rendered at roughly 20 to 30 frames per second. The phone reportedly takes between four and five minutes to boot into the system.

Adaptations have also been reported for the Redmi Note 12 Pro and LG V60. Developers are working on versions for the OnePlus 7T, Redmi 5 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra, although the relevant code has not yet been published. Attempts involving a Google Pixel 6 and a Galaxy S7 have not succeeded so far.

The developer adapting the project for the Redmi Note 12 says that audio, Wi-Fi and wallpapers are working on the Redmi Note 12 version, though the system remains highly unstable. Separately, the group OOSexGang claims to have run iOS 16.5 on a Poco X5 Pro and has published its project on GitHub.

Generative AI is playing a role in many of these experiments. Repository files include instructions for tools such as Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex and Gemini, allowing developers to accelerate parts of the adaptation process. Despite the progress, Hackios remains a technical demonstration rather than a usable iOS installation for everyday phone use.

Sources: Xataka.