New day, new kickstarter project. iEmu is an emulator based on the popular open-source emulator QEMU. The project’s primary goal is to implement support for the S5L8930 chipset, which is used in the iPhone 4 and the first-generation iPad. Since the specifications for this chipset and other supporting hardware used by Apple’s devices aren’t public, supporting these devices takes some heavy reverse engineering.
This takes time and dedication, which is why progress so far has been slow. My new approach is to dedicate myself completely to this project and show the world the full potential of iEmu.
Once iEmu is complete it will be possible to run it on Linux, Windows, Mac, mobile platforms such as Android, and even on iOS itself. It will act as a debugger for some, and perhaps will be a QA tool for others. It will also enable security experts to capture and analyze iOS malware in a sandboxed environment.
Another major factor will be the documentation produced along the way. I plan on not only documenting my findings but also posting regular blog updates with thoughts and insights on my work.
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
The current status of iEmu can be found here…
Below is the current version of iEmu booting the iPhone 2G bootloader (kernel also boots with some effort)
For more info and backing up the project, visit the official page…