iPhone app is just too cool

With certain iPhone apps, you know long in advance: Apple will never release them and let them into the App Store. Last year’s project by a young developer probably still has no chance of being approved by Apple’s top guard. The idea and last but not least the implementation is really worth seeing – too cool for Apple.

Last year, Apple released iOS 15, the current system for cell phones from Cupertino, but the iPhone system doesn’t really look any different than its predecessor. It used to be different, older readers will remember. At the time, Steve Jobs’ preferred “skeuomorphism” was the guiding principle and stood for the typical appearance of the iPhone. Then, with iOS 7, it became “flat” and more abstract as we know it today.

Krass: Apple’s iOS 4 replicated as an iPhone app

Unfortunately, the old systems can no longer be installed on our iPhones, so the typical “look and feel” is lost forever. Or maybe not? The young developer “Zane” is just 18 years old and 2021 already has the venerable iOS 4 from 2010 “recreated”. is precisely worded his app “OldOS” based on the Apple model and thus brings the old days to life. Zane speaks of a kind of second operating system for the iPhone, but it’s not fully functional yet, for example there’s no news or YouTube yet, but you can surf with “Safari”, create notes and much more.

From that: OldOS is truly a pixel perfect replica of iOS 4 with a bunch of functional apps – great.

Not in the App Store, but you can still try it

Now the bad news: as cool as the app is, Apple will never allow them in the App Store in 2022 or in the future. After all, it’s not just a kind of emulation, Apple’s intellectual property or various utility models are also “attacked” with the app. We know from experience that such apps have no chance of approval and publication.

Apple’s current iPhone system offers many new features, in the video the manufacturer shows a particularly useful function:

However, there is still a way to get a personal impression of “OldOS”. Although the number of beta testers via TestFlight for the app is already fully occupied, Github has the real ones XCode project directly to download. In other words, if you are an app developer yourself, you are welcome to use it and experiment accordingly.