It seems ironic that you will make your iPhone run on Android OS. However, for those who are bored or have nothing to do with their obsolete iPhone models, this guide may be a bit useful just to satisfy one’s curious mind.

Just like your computer, you can make a dual-boot iPhone, i.e. making it run on two operating systems alternatively. In this case, you will be using your iPhone 2G or 3G which may be lying around the corner not being attended by anyone. Just think of this guide as an experiment to see if iPhone can work using the OS of its biggest competitor, Android.

For those who wanted to check out some of the features of the Adroid system and have some access to iPhone 2G/3G, this is a great opportunity. You don’t even need a computer to do this tutorial, but we absolutely need a Cydia app for this one – Bootlace.



Article Map

To make it easier for you, I made an article map so that you can easily navigate this article without much of a trouble.

Part I: Overview of Bootlace

Part II: Pre-Installation Requirements

Part III: How to Add a Repository

Part IV: Bootlace Installation

Part V: Setting Up Bootlace

Overview of Bootlace

Basically, Bootlace is an iPhone app (jailbroken only) which enables you to install OpeniBoot and iDroid into your iPhone, 2G and 3G models only. You will also be able to configure OpeniBoot through its configuration page after the installation. Moreover, QuickBoot is also supported after Bootlace is successfully installed. QuickBoot is a feature which comes with Bootlace that will directly boot your iPhone to a selected OS without changing the default configuration settings.

Pre-Installation Requirements

Here are some of the things you should remember before performing this guide:

It will work on iPhone 2G and 3G only.

You must have jailbroken your iPhone using PwnageTool, Blackra1n and RedSnow. If your iPhone has been jailbroken using JailBreakMe and Spirit, it will not work as well.

There were some conflicts between Backgrounder app and Bootlace, so it would be better to turn Backgrounder off when using the latter.

How to Add a Repository

This step is also very important so you cannot skip this one. What we will do here is to simply add a repository; if you’ve done something like this before, it would be much easier for you to understand this time.

Step 1. Launch Cydia and tap on ‘Manage‘ tab below the screen.

Step 2. There will be three options, tap on ‘Sources‘, then tap on ‘Edit‘ button located at the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3. Now, tap on the ‘Add‘ button on the top-left corner, and enter the following in the field; ‘http://repo.neonkoala.co.uk‘ and tap ‘Add Source‘ button thereafter.

Step 4. After you add the address above, tap on ‘Return to Cydia‘ big button below your screen. Tap on ‘Done‘ button after that and you will be brought back to Sources list.

Basically, this is the whole process of adding a repository to make it easier for you to install any app from the developer you just added; in this case it’s Neonkoala.

Bootlace Installation

This is just a continuation of the previous steps so we will continue with the count.

Step 5. After doing step 4, you will be brought back to the page wherein you can select a Source. Tap on ‘Neonkoala.co.uk‘ then select ‘Bootlace‘ to open the package.

Step 6. Now you are ready to install Bootlace. Just tap on the ‘Install‘ button on the top-right corner, then ‘Confirm‘ your action.

Step 7. The installation will take only a short while, after which you will be presented with the following screen (please see screenshot). Tap on ‘Return to Cydia‘ button below to proceed.

The installation process will be smooth following these steps. Now we are ready to set up Bootlace.

Setting Up Bootlace

This is going to be different process so we will start our count from the first step onwards.

Step 1. After the installation, just press the ‘Home‘ button so that you’ll be brought back to the Springboard. From there, you will be able to find the Bootlace icon, tap on it to launch.

Step 2. Since it is your first time running Bootlace, it will automatically start downloading and patching the Kernel.

Step 3. The patching process is short, once done you will be prompted to reboot your iPhone. You don’t have much option but to tap on that ‘Reboot‘ button.

Step 4. After a reboot, launch Bootlace again. This time, there will be a welcome message, tap on ‘OK‘ button to proceed.

Step 5. This time, you need to install iDroid. Tap on the ‘iDroid‘ tab below your screen then tap on ‘Install‘ button thereafter.

Step 6. There will be a warning message. Just tap on ‘OK‘ button to proceed with the iDroid installation, and wait until it’s done.

Step 7. When the installation is complete, tap on ‘OpeniBoot‘ tab and then the ‘Install‘ button. We also need to install OpeniBoot.

Step 8. The installation will never take long enough; when it’s done, tap on ‘Configure‘ button.

Step 9. In this screen, you will be presented with options on how you would want your iPhone to boot; either boot with iOS or iDroid. Just don’t forget to tap on the ‘Save’ button located at the top-right corner of your screen.

Anyway, it is the Android OS 2.2.1 Froyo that you will be using here. Why don’t you take time navigating and discovering this OS with your iPhone?

As always, don’t hesitate to leave us comments, suggestions or questions.