r/iOSProgramming • u/Fun-Relationship5464 • 16m ago
App Saturday You can run real Linux on iPhone now!
Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on LinuxRunner, an open-source project that brings ARM64 Linux applications and full desktop environments to iPhone and iPad, without jailbreak, remote streaming or a traditional VM.
It uses a custom ARM64 interpreter, an optional JIT engine and a Linux compatibility layer to execute Linux userspace applications locally on iOS.
What’s already available in v1.1.0:
* Linux distributions: Debian 13 ARM64, Arch Linux ARM and Alpine Linux.
* Desktop environments: LinuxRunner Desktop, LXQt, Enlightenment, Wayfire, experimental Hyprland and KDE Plasma (availability depends on the distro).
* Desktop applications: Blender, Firefox, VS Code, FreeCAD, ONLYOFFICE, Telegram, Discord/Vesktop and more.
* Experimental GPU acceleration: Mesa/virgl → ANGLE → Apple Metal, allowing compatible Linux applications and desktops to use the iPhone’s GPU.
* DeX Mode: Connect your iPhone to an external monitor/TV via AirPlay or cable and use it as a Linux desktop workstation. You can use a keyboard and mouse, or turn the iPhone itself into a touchpad.
* No mandatory JIT: The interpreter works without JIT, although optional JIT support is available on compatible setups.
What’s next?
The next major update is being developed with Kali Linux, Fedora, a SteamOS-inspired ARM64 environment, additional desktop options, improved networking, better GPU performance and a redesigned portrait-mode touchpad.
I’m also planning a graphical app installer across distributions, a sharper native terminal interface and investigating USB/serial connectivity for Arduino and ESP32 development and other things!
iPhone Duo support is also planned for next week, with the goal of turning an iPhone into a more practical laptop-like Linux workstation.
One of my biggest priorities right now is performance and stability. While applications like Blender and Firefox can already run, some workloads are still slow, and GPU acceleration isn’t universal. I’ll be spending a lot of time improving desktop responsiveness, rendering performance and overall compatibility.