iEmu is an open source emulator by kickstarter that will bring iOS apps to a number of platforms including Android, Linux, Windows, Mac.
Meet iEmu, a new project from one of the iPhone’s earliest hackers. The goal? To get iOS up and running in an emulated state on Linux, Windows, Mac, and Android.
By building on top of the open-source QEMUemulator, project leader Chris Wade (who had a role in some of the earliest iPhone jailbreak exploits) is hoping to fully emulate the Samsung S5L8930 (A4) chipset used in the iPhone 4 and first generation iPad.
That should all be easy enough, right? I mean, your computer can play SNES games and arcade games! This should be a breeze!
Yeah, no. Even once they’ve figured out how to emulate the CPU, they still need to hack together emulated support for the GPU, USB controller, Multitouch controller, the memory, the audio system, and all of the secondary components (the Bluetooth chip, GPS, compass, etc.) And once they’ve got all the hardware stuff covered? Then they get to figure out how to force all this stuff to boot. As much as I’d love to see this all happen, to call it a massive project would be an understatement.
The end goal is a program that:
- is simple to use, with no tricky state dumps required.
- is capable of running most iPad/iPhone apps.
- can be extended with plugins for custom iOS exploration .
- has basic support for non-essential peripherals like accelerometer, GPS etc.
- can be reflashed using iTunes via USB emulation.
- has Slirp-style network access
While it’s quite an undertaking, Wade seems confident that he can raise the $20,000 funding goal on Kickstarter, which will mainly pay for his living expenses for a little over three months.
There is clearly already supporters interested in seeing the project come to fruition with over $6,000 currently pledged by over 85 backers. The project does, however, have a long way to go to reach it’s funding goal by the September 16 deadline.
Kickstarter is just a donation platform, not the person behind it.