It’s been a few years since we first saw software designed to let you run Android apps on an iOS device. So it’s about time someone figured out how to do the opposite: students at Columbia University have developed a tool that makes it possible to run native iOS apps on an Android device.

The software is called Cider, and it allows iOS apps including iBooks and Apple Remote to run on an Android phone or tablet. In a demo video, you can see those apps and others running on a 2012 Nexus 7 tablet.

Of course, iOS apps aren’t designed to run on Android, so some features may not work properly. But notifications seem to work, and hardware including GPS, touch panels, and graphics chips seem to be supported… to a degree.

The demo video shows that iOS apps seem to be a bit more sluggish than native Android apps.

As a proof-of-concept, it’s pretty impressive demonstration of one operating system mimicking another in order to run “foreign” apps as if they were native. It could also theoretically open the door for Android users to access content available from iTunes and the App Store which isn’t natively available for Android… but I doubt Cider will ever be released as commercial software.

via TNW

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6 replies on “Cider allows iOS apps to run on Android (video)”

  1. I guess this would be great for porting over more iOS apps to Android, at least the apps whose developers aren’t being bribed by Apple.

  2. Cool. I wonder if it’ll ever smoothly support the Amazon Video app. That’s the only thing I use my iPad Air for.

    1. There is an Android app, Amazon just limits it to Kindle Fires and Google TV devices… and porting it seems to be a problem because you can’t log in from the App itself…

      While, you could stream Amazon Instant video with a Flash enabled browser… My dad does it all the time on his over 2 year old Blackberry Playbook, can even output it over the micro HDMI port to a TV… So performance shouldn’t be a issue on any of the more modern Android devices…

      Though, Amazon does limit video out resolution unless you’re watching it on a certified device… Like, I can’t output full HD from my PC to the TV but I can from my PS3 because it’s officially recognized by Amazon to do so…

      While, alternatively, you could always just get a Kindle Fire… Root it to still have the Play Store and get everything that way…

    2. It’d be nice if Amazon comes out with an official Android app but with them coming out with a smartphone and expanding their ecosystem, that’s not likely now. I’m thinking of just going back to Netflix.

      1. That’d be great. I only have the iPad Air because it was a Christmas gift from my wife. Its only use now is to watch Amazon Videos. The browser (Safari, Chrome and Dolphin) crash or kill off background tabs too often due to low memory issues. 64-bit software and 1 GB of RAM was a pretty bad idea. Not a fan of the non-replaceable keyboard either. Mostly, I just want arrow keys.

        I’ve been considering canceling my Amazon Prime membership. The free regular shipping is good enough and Netflix has a better video collection.

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