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QEMU for iOS

github.com

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Re: QEMU for iOS

#61

Post by lazerl0rd »

osy wrote: post #59
lazerl0rd wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you by any chance consider TestFlight to distribute UTM? iSH (a usermode Linux "terminal" emulator) has been for quite some time, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to.

> This entitlement is only given out in development profiles and not any distribution profiles so I can’t upload to TestFlight either.

Ah sorry, my bad, I skipped over that. Here's an idea - you could start a "fundraising" of sorts and if you get enough you could purchase a developer profile to publish to TestFlight.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#62

Post by jsjohnst »

osy wrote: post #47

Hi, author here. I’m here to answer any questions but also I want to advertise the fact that it would be really really awesome if interested devs can join the project. Currently it’s just me doing this on my spare time for the past year. Specifically I’m a complete newbie at UI/UX stuff and the project could use a real designer/front end developer. Also for more info and a few videos demonstrating capabilities and pe…

First of all, huge TY! I used iBochs on a first gen iPad and successfully ran Linux, Windows 95, and DOS on it. I’ve tried a few times to modernize that code for current iOS releases, but was unsuccessful. I did spend a bunch of time back in the day building a nice UI for iBochs so would be game to help do that for UTM. My contact info is in my profile if you are still looking for folks!

Re: QEMU for iOS

#63

Post by lazerl0rd »

jsjohnst wrote: post #60
lazerl0rd wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you by any chance consider TestFlight to distribute UTM? iSH (a usermode Linux "terminal" emulator) has been for quite some time, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to.

iSH works differently. It’s not running “Linux” and it isn’t virtualizing hardware either. Anything you run has to be compiled already and the syscalls are emulated, there is no Linux kernel in iSH.

I said it was a 'usermode Linux "terminal" emulator', never said it was a VM or anything like that. IIRC the dev said he also wasn't allowed to publish it to the App Store and I assume it falls under the same catagory of "not allowed" in Apple's eyes as UTM would've had.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#64

Post by osy »

lazerl0rd wrote: post #61
osy wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This entitlement is only given out in development profiles and not any distribution profiles so I can’t upload to TestFlight either.

Ah sorry, my bad, I skipped over that. Here's an idea - you could start a "fundraising" of sorts and if you get enough you could purchase a developer profile to publish to TestFlight.

You can’t purchase such a profile. Apple doesn’t ever give them out.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#65

Post by kdrag0n »

jsjohnst wrote: post #60
lazerl0rd wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you by any chance consider TestFlight to distribute UTM? iSH (a usermode Linux "terminal" emulator) has been for quite some time, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to.

iSH works differently. It’s not running “Linux” and it isn’t virtualizing hardware either. Anything you run has to be compiled already and the syscalls are emulated, there is no Linux kernel in iSH.

iSH actually uses a semi-JIT to emulate an x86 CPU — it doesn't run ARM64 code. It basically creates an arrray of function pointers to snippets of pre-translated code. It's not a full JIT like UTM, but it's an interesting workaround for iOS' restrictions.

Official description: https://github.com/tbodt/ish#a-note-on-the-jit

Re: QEMU for iOS

#66

Post by osy »

jsjohnst wrote: post #62
osy wrote: post #47

Hi, author here. I’m here to answer any questions but also I want to advertise the fact that it would be really really awesome if interested devs can join the project. Currently it’s just me doing this on my spare time for the past year. Specifically I’m a complete newbie at UI/UX stuff and the project could use a real designer/front end developer. Also for more info and a few videos demonstrating capabilities and pe…

First of all, huge TY! I used iBochs on a first gen iPad and successfully ran Linux, Windows 95, and DOS on it. I’ve tried a few times to modernize that code for current iOS releases, but was unsuccessful. I did spend a bunch of time back in the day building a nice UI for iBochs so would be game to help do that for UTM. My contact info is in my profile if you are still looking for folks!

Thanks! If you’re interested please fork the project on github and make a PR when you’re ready. I want this project eventually to be community run so I’m not going to be “in charge” of anything.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#67

Post by lazerl0rd »

osy wrote: post #64
lazerl0rd wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah sorry, my bad, I skipped over that. Here's an idea - you could start a "fundraising" of sorts and if you get enough you could purchase a developer profile to publish to TestFlight.

You can’t purchase such a profile. Apple doesn’t ever give them out.

I thought this would be part of their $99/year subscription, well that's unfortunate. Thanks again for your project.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#68

Post by lwb »

jsjohnst wrote: post #56
lwb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The important difference is the turn around time -- with Expo I can make a change locally and see it with my testers in less than a minute, whereas with TestFlight everything has to be manually reviewed for 2-3 days after a heavy-handed submission process.

I routinely do TestFlight builds without manual review and fast turnaround from build -> running on beta user devices.

How? Genuine question. I am trying to distribute an app right now and it always takes at least 2 days from submission time to TestFlight approval.

Re: QEMU for iOS

#69

Post by dfox »

rhodysurf wrote: post #37
lwb wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but the QEMU project is also simply loading X86 (or other) assembly code and interpreting it in a virtual machine... unless I misunderstand this project and it does something more sophisticated. > the limitation of having half the screen showing the executed code I'm not aware of this limitation, could the QEMU port use this to show the ASM that's being executed to get around this?

IDK about virtual machines and why this isnt allowed. But related is how this app works that is a c compiler for iOS and is in the app store: https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/comments/dr5bxi/app_... It basically does the same thing Swift Playgrounds does where is compiles to LLVM machine code and runs it will LLVM compiled for iOS. And it is on the app store so IDK the rules at all apparently and why QEMU woul…

The rules apparently (since last year or so) are that you can interpret arbitrary code as long as the code in question not only legally but in practice meets the definition of the zeroth FSF's rule (notice that the “executables” on the FS image distributed with SeeLess are LLVM IR assembly text files, which is probably the reason why the thing is so damn huge)

Re: QEMU for iOS

#70

Post by ben174 »

jsjohnst wrote: post #55
lwb wrote: post #28

> Apple does not permit any apps that has interpreted or generated code An interesting exception to this is Expo, an app that lets you load React Native apps built by other developers over the internet. Expo gets around this on Apple by forcing you to sign into that developer's account before downloading their app, so that it's plausibly "yours". I've used to distribute early builds of a React Native app really easil…

> iPad + keyboard + Windows Remote Desktop Why not just install the free Microsoft RDP client for iOS? Seems like extreme overkill to use an x86 emulator with a full OS installed to do something that’s available for free in the AppStore.

Because remote desktop needs a connection and a remote PC to connect to.
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