The original iPhone’s software now runs in a browser tab

The first iPhone’s software is now a website. A project at 2007.mobile runs iPhone OS 1.0 inside a browser tab, so you can slide to unlock, tap around the original home screen and use the classic apps without owning a 2007 handset.

The site describes it as genuine iPhone OS 1.0 running in a WebAssembly emulator, which means the code runs locally in your browser rather than streaming from a server. It’s the look and feel of the original that you get here, so expect no modern conveniences. The page says that hardware and app support are still being developed, and that internet access, cellular service and the camera aren’t available yet. Sound also stays silent until your first tap or key press, a standard browser restriction on audio.

Controls mimic the real thing. You drag to scroll, tap to open apps and press the round Home button to go back, while the buttons along the edge handle sleep, volume and silent mode. On a keyboard, Esc or H acts as Home, P wakes and sleeps the phone, the plus and minus keys change volume, and M toggles silent mode.

Saving your phone

The emulator treats your browser as the phone’s storage. A Save button keeps a checkpoint in the browser, Export downloads a backup file and Import restores one, while Reset returns to the supplied starting state. The site warns that browser storage can be cleared, so it advises exporting a backup of anything you want to keep. There’s also a Keep offline option that downloads the phone for later visits without a connection.

The current starting phone has about 6 MB of free storage, according to the site, and fixes a long pause that used to occur when returning to the Home screen. Phones you’ve already saved keep their old configuration, so if you want the updated version you’ll need to export a backup before you reset.

The page credits the project to a developer named Kelindi and links to kelindi.ca. Emulating Apple’s earliest mobile software isn’t new in itself. In 2022, developer Martijn de Vos, known as devos50, emulated iPhone OS 1.0 with QEMU, a project that took more than a year and targeted the first-generation iPod touch build because emulating the iPhone would have required more hardware components. That version needs a desktop setup, whereas this one needs only a link.

For anyone who remembers the original iPhone’s glossy icons and its tiny, fixed set of apps, it’s a quick trip back to 2007. Software released in June 2007 is still easy to appreciate in a browser tab, even with the internet switched off.