Thanks to one techie's 3D-printed phone case, the world has now experienced an iPhone running on an Android.
On software company Tendigi's blog, designer Nick Lee narrated how he and his team were able to fit a completely-packaged version of Android inside an iPhone by making a very unique phone case.
To make his "Franken-phone" come to life, Lee cloned the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and created his own version of Android Marshmallow. He then combined them with a Lemaker HiKey board, a battery, a booster and resistor to create a bulky version of a cell phone.
Eventually, he was able to slim his design down to make his creation look like today's smart phones-small and sleek.
According to Lee, he experienced several problems along the way-chief of which was the actual design of the phone case. After initially planning to use a Mophie Juice Pack to serve as the enclosure, he instead opted to make a 3D-printed phone case himself using the iPhone 6 Plus as a base model.
He then bought a 3D printer and modified the base model's designs before finally coming up with the perfect enclosure for his hybrid phone.
While the first phone case came out too big, Lee said he was fortunate that the components fitted just right with plenty of room to spare. Eventually, he was able to print a phone case where they fitted perfectly.
In a YouTube video, Lee demonstrates his Android-powered iPhone by running several apps.
Creating a 3D-printed phone case so an iPhone could run on an Android is note the first time that Lee, Tendigi's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), has tinkered with the operating systems of rival companies. Last April, Lee also managed to successfully install Windows 95 on an Apple Watch. He pulled off the feat by modifying Apple's software, essentially turning Microsoft's operating system into a compatible application, The Verge reported.
