Vietnamese users install iPad operating system on iPhone

A Vietnamese user recently caused a stir in the international community when he found a way to install the iPad operating system on the iPhone. Specifically, according to information widely shared on the X platform and the 9to5Mac news site, a user named Duy Tran (Duy Tran) successfully installed iPadOS 26 on the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

In the short video shared, the iPhone device showed off the interface and features of iPadOS 26, especially the new window system that Apple recently improved. This shows that the advanced multitasking ability - which is a characteristic of tablets - can completely operate smoothly and intuitively on the phone screen.

The discovery quickly attracted attention because it showed that the software barrier that Apple had established between its iPhone and iPad product lines could be overcome.

iPhone 17 with iPadOS's multitasking window feature. Photo: Duy Tran/X.

iPadOS 26 features an all-new window management system that provides a more flexible, PC-like multitasking experience.

9to5Mac claims that this window system is the core platform that Apple will use to develop a dedicated multitasking feature for the foldable iPhone, which is rumored to be released in the near future, possibly with iOS 27. The foldable iPhone's internal screen, which is about the size of an iPad mini, will need a powerful multitasking interface to make the most of the space.

According to user Duy Tran, this installation process is done by exploiting a security vulnerability in previous versions of the operating system.

However, this vulnerability has been completely fixed by Apple in the iOS and iPadOS 26.2 update. This confirms that this is a unique test version, difficult to reproduce at the present time.

It's unclear at this point whether these iPadOS-style multitasking features will make their way down to standard (non-folding) iPhones in iOS 27.

According to 9to5Mac 's analysis, Apple will almost certainly reserve complex window management features for devices with large screens or folding screens to differentiate its products.

Not only stopping at success with iPadOS 26, Duy Tran is also a creative member of the jailbreak and software development community, with many bold experiments to explore the limits of Apple devices.

Notably, this user installed the entire macOS operating system on the iPhone and successfully launched the iOS 26 emulator on the jailbroken iPhone XS Max.