We previously reported on a developer who successfully emulated iPhone OS on a Mac using QEMU. Initially, the original firmware of the 1st generation iPod touch was utilized to showcase the possibility of emulating iPhone and iPod touch software. Now, Martijn de Vos, also known as devos50, has presented the progress he has made with this emulator, which now successfully runs iPhone OS 2.1.
iPhone OS 2 emulated with QEMU
As shown by the developer on X (formerly known as Twitter), he has now achieved emulation of a 2nd generation iPod touch running iPhone OS 2.1 using QEMU. According to de Vos, the emulator is running smoothly, with most features such as multi-touch and LCD drivers working effectively. He also mentioned that most of the built-in apps are opening as expected.
Last year, the developer explained that he chose to emulate an old iPod touch firmware as emulating an iPhone firmware would be more complex due to the additional hardware components required.
Emulating iPhone OS 1 was primarily a proof of concept, as there were limited functionalities. Although iPhone OS 2 is outdated, it was the first version to introduce the App Store, enabling the running of third-party apps. This allows users to preserve old games that have not been updated for modern devices.
The developer acknowledges that there is still much work to be done. For instance, the iPhone OS emulator currently lacks support for audio or Wi-Fi, but de Vos mentioned progress in developing the necessary drivers. As the project advances to supporting newer versions of iPhone OS (and iOS), users will be able to emulate more apps.
Running iPhone apps on other platforms
Other developers are also working on emulating iPhone software. Earlier this year, Hikari no Yume released a tool called “touchHLE.” However, unlike de Vos’ project, touchHLE only runs individual iPhone OS apps, not the entire operating system.
The initial version was capable of running a few games such as Super Monkey Ball and Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 3D, with audio and accelerometer simulation. The project has evolved significantly and now supports more apps and games, including Doom, Fastlane Street Racing, and Mystery Mania.
For more details on the QEMU emulator, you can visit GitHub.
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