Open-source Symbian for modern hardware
The 2010 Symbian, running on a 2018 phone.
NeoSymbian ports the EKA2 kernel to 64-bit ARM and keeps the original Symbian^3 user side running unchanged. The first target is the Google Pixel 3a XL. The new touch UI is written in Rust.
8 / 8cores booted, GICv3 and PSCI
Real 2010Symbian user side runs unmodified on the phone
LTEregisters, places and takes calls with two-way audio
Wi-Fijoins WPA2, gets an IP address, reaches the internet
Why Symbian, and why now
Symbian^3 was a capable, small-footprint OS: a microkernel with real multitasking, a strong C++ SDK and a file system built for phones. Its source was released in 2010. No phone has shipped it since.
NeoSymbian asks what it would take to run it on a phone people carry today. The kernel is ported to AArch64 with 32-bit pointers. The 2010 user side stays as it was, in 32-bit mode. New drivers are written where they belong: timing-critical ones in C++ in the kernel, protocol logic in Rust on the user side.
Kernel on the phone
Storage, touch and screen
Calls and Wi-Fi
Complete calls (C7)
Call log and contacts (C8)