A developer by the name of “Businesscat2000” has done the unthinkable: successfully porting iOS apps to run on the BlackBerry Playbook! Of course, it’s not unthinkable because it’s so extraordinary – it’s unthinkable because, under normal circumstances, nobody would be bothered to think of it. The Blackberry Playbook was a commercial failure.
Nevertheless, the feat probably took a great amount of effort and plenty of mental agility – we’ve got to give credit where credit is due. As CrackBerry editor Kevin Michaluk points out (quoting Businesscat2000), the process is somewhat similar to Windows applications can be made to run on Linux (via The Verge):
The CPU isn’t emulated on Playbook (though it is on Windows). It works very similarly to how WINE works to run Windows applications on Linux. The app binary is mapped into memory and imports are resolved to point to my own implementation of the various APIs needed.
The developer also posted a number of videos demonstrating iOS apps running on the PlayBook, lest people accuse him of putting on a hoax. Unfortunately, the developer’s effort is unlikely to result in a feasible solution for owners of the BlackBerry PlayBook, as the process is quite complicated.
Check out the below video clips to see the solution in action – at least until Apple’s lawyers freak out!