PocketDarwin is an experimental, open-source effort to bring a Darwin/iPhone-OS-style software stack to non-Apple hardware (especially Android devices).
In plain words: this repo is where people tinker with kernels, frameworks, apps, and SDK tooling to recreate the classic iPhone-era development/runtime experience.
PocketDarwin is aiming to assemble a full "mini ecosystem":
- System layer: boot and low-level platform bits.
- Framework layer: Objective-C-friendly frameworks and glue.
- Application layer: SpringBoard-like UI and bundled apps.
- Developer layer: SDK/toolchain pieces for building software against PocketDarwin.
- Android bridge work: experiments that let parts of this stack run in Android environments.
This is an active hacking project, not a finished product.
If you’re new, start here:
System/→ boot/platform code and system apps (including SpringBoard work)Frameworks/→ core frameworks + build helpers (MakeKit,TerminalKit, etc.)Developer/→ SDKs, toolchains, and scripts for developer workflowsBuildSystem/→ build orchestration piecesAndroid/→ Android-side experiments/integration projectsTools/→ utility tools used by the project
Read:
Read:
Start in:
Start in:
PocketDarwin is work-in-progress and heavily experimental. Expect rough edges, incomplete components, and frequent changes.
Note
PocketDarwin does not aim to provide generic prebuilt Linux "interludes" for every setup. You should expect source-based setup/build workflows.
Tip
Join the community Discord: https://discord.gg/bthwXwh8vP
- harpia (Moto G4 Play, 2016, Linux kernel 3.10) — official development device
- Potentially other aarch64 Android devices with publicly available kernel source trees
Contributions are welcome — code, docs, testing, bug reports, and wild ideas.
A good first contribution is improving docs for one subdirectory you touched. If you had to reverse-engineer how something works, write it down for the next person.
See LICENSE for project licensing.