1 year, 11 months ago
Will android applications run on the iPad?
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M$1 Answer
Well, the short answer is no.
The longer and more involved answer is sometimes.
No, you cannot in any way, shape, or form download and run an application from the Android Market on an iPad. I doubt you ever will (warning: this is a personal opinion statement).
First you have a problem that Android runs applications written in Java while the iPad/iPhone runs applications written in Objective-C. Apple also supports applications written in C and C++.
Next, there are political walls to deal with. For example, Apple told the developers of an application called Flash of Genius to remove text from the description of their app stating that it was a finalist in an Android developer challenge.
However, there are some really smart developers out there asking one very important question, can't I just compile my program twice? So that is what they do, they have a small code base that can be maintained for both systems. They they can compile once for the iPhone and once more for the Android. The developers behind Flash of Genius did it, and others can, too. In my experience, C++ and Java are similar enough languages that you can easily maintain parallel code bases that are small. These mobile apps have to be small for all the limitations of the device they are working inside.
This is similar to video game consoles. Games like Batman Arkham Asylum are available on the XBox 360 and PS3, but you can't play the XBox disc in a PS3. They game was most likely just recompiled for each console.
The longer and more involved answer is sometimes.
No, you cannot in any way, shape, or form download and run an application from the Android Market on an iPad. I doubt you ever will (warning: this is a personal opinion statement).
First you have a problem that Android runs applications written in Java while the iPad/iPhone runs applications written in Objective-C. Apple also supports applications written in C and C++.
Next, there are political walls to deal with. For example, Apple told the developers of an application called Flash of Genius to remove text from the description of their app stating that it was a finalist in an Android developer challenge.
However, there are some really smart developers out there asking one very important question, can't I just compile my program twice? So that is what they do, they have a small code base that can be maintained for both systems. They they can compile once for the iPhone and once more for the Android. The developers behind Flash of Genius did it, and others can, too. In my experience, C++ and Java are similar enough languages that you can easily maintain parallel code bases that are small. These mobile apps have to be small for all the limitations of the device they are working inside.
This is similar to video game consoles. Games like Batman Arkham Asylum are available on the XBox 360 and PS3, but you can't play the XBox disc in a PS3. They game was most likely just recompiled for each console.
source(s):
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/General/Conceptual/...
http://flash-of-genius.com/blog/?p=8
Professional and Personal Opinions
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_23?url=search-alias%3Dvideogames&a...
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/General/Conceptual/...
http://flash-of-genius.com/blog/?p=8
Professional and Personal Opinions
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_23?url=search-alias%3Dvideogames&a...
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I am going to say that we are both correct.
I stand by my statement that you cannot open http://www.android.com/market/ on your iPad, download an Application, and then run it.
Now, your first option is basically the same thing I was trying to explain in my answer. That is technically the same code base either manually or programmaticly duplicated for the other platform. Technically, then, it is not an Android application running on the iPad, but it is an Android application that was rebuilt as an iPad application. Besides, my understanding from conversation is that the Apple and Android SDKs each have their own UI sets, so you would be rewriting significant chunks of the UI unique to each platform.
As to your second option, using the Java emulator, I cannot speak to the effectiveness of this. If you strip off the Android SDK components of an Android app, it becomes a regular Java program in need of Java interface calls to make it a functioning Java app. I do not know if Android requires your app to have a full Java UI behind the Android UI.
In theory, you might be able to capture the Android app as a file and you might try running that file on the iPad's Java emulator, but I doubt you would have success. As soon as the Android app made a call to an Android library file (ie: anything to do with the UI), then the app would crash because the iPad lacks those libraries.
Never say never
1. Android could have a parser that transforms the Java code and libraries into C.
2. A C and C++ compiler then would compile and link the code into an executable.
or
1. The Java code could be put their a java emulator on the iPad