Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 (SM-X200)
An iPad-style shell, written in Rust, on a tablet that never asked for one.
AndroiOS replaces Android’s home screen with SpringBoard, a from-scratch userland that draws its own UI, plays its own audio and runs its own apps. Android stays installed and untouched underneath.
Where it stands
Experimental, single device. This is a one-person project developed against one tablet. Expect rough edges, and do not rely on it as your only way to use the device.
- WorksBoots straight into the shell after a reboot, rollback-safe updates, touch, keyboard, Wi-Fi, radio playback, and the built-in apps listed below.
- Mostly untestedMany newer features are covered by host unit tests but have not been tried on the tablet yet. Treat each as unverified until you see it work.
- Known gapsBluetooth is impossible natively (the kernel has no AF_BLUETOOTH). Suspend never succeeds, so battery life suffers. Animations drop to 30 fps in app open/close and the switcher. Auto-rotation can stall until the power button is pressed.
- Never touched/system, boot, vbmeta and verity. The shell lives entirely in /data. One early experiment with
adb remountbootlooped the tablet; nothing here uses it.
Screenshots
Captured from the device. Design reference is an iPad running iPadOS 15.7.8, following the iOS 14 look.
What is in it
System
- ShellHome screen with folders, App Library, widgets, Spotlight, app switcher, Split View and Slide Over, Control Center, Notification Center, lock screen.
- SettingsWi-Fi (WPA3, enterprise), date and time with NTP, passcode, storage, battery and power profiles, accessibility, search.
- InputOn-screen keyboard with prediction, autocorrect, emoji, trackpad mode, Icelandic and English layouts.
- UpdatesStaged binary, 60 second probation, automatic rollback to the previous build, recovery chord back to Android.
Apps
- ProductivityNotes, Reminders, Calendar, Contacts, Files, Books (PDF and EPUB), Freeform, Shortcuts, Voice Memos.
- MediaMusic with live Icelandic radio, Podcasts, Photos, Camera, Magnifier.
- EverydayBrowser, Weather, News, Clock, Calculator, a terminal with SSH, and a few games.
Under the hood
- Pure RustOwn renderer, font stack (SF UI), audio path through ALSA, TLS, codecs. No Java, no Android UI toolkit.
- App modelApps are separate processes that draw into shared memory and install from the store as
.aappackages. See the developer docs.