Last night I played Game Boy Advance games on my iPhone thanks to a new emulator called iGBA, which appears to be the first Game Boy Advance emulator on the App Store since Apple started allowing emulators worldwide. The only problem is that it doesn’t look like the iGBA is developer Mattie La Spina’s own work.
Even so, he says he’s frustrated with Apple, not La Spina.
Testut also made this statement The Verge:
I’ve been working with Apple for over a month now to release AltStore as an alternative app market, and I’m disappointed to see that in that time they’ve approved a knockoff of AltStore’s main Delta app. However, we still plan to launch Delta as soon as possible, and we’ll have more to share with you soon.
Here are some screenshots of GBA4iOS and iGBA for comparison, starting with the iGBA.
When asked for comment, La Spina did not explicitly confirm the use of Testuto’s code, but said The Verge they “didn’t think the app would get such a response, I’m really sorry,” and added that they contacted Testut via email.
Another issue with the iGBA is that, according to the App Store listing, it collects information that can be used to identify you, such as location data and identifiers. I suggest you read developer Mattio La Spino’s privacy policy found on Github before starting. The app didn’t ask permission for location data when I loaded it, and I haven’t seen browser tracking consent in the app from some Reddit users have reported seeing.
I’m aware of one other emulator that he noticed The Verge’with Parker Orlotani. It is a Commodore 64 emulator called Emu64 XL. Here I saw a consent request form filled with switches for what seemed like miles of trackers. I didn’t try to find or play any Commodore 64 games with Emu64 XL and deleted the app.
Apple has tightly controlled the App Store since its inception. That control is now falling, with the EU’s Digital Markets Act ordering the company to allow other app stores and sideloading on the iPhone. The company is also facing a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice that could force it to make similar concessions — which may be why the company started allowing emulators in the first place. Either way, allowing emulators seems like a win; it’s just a shame that the first applications that use it are not quite up to par.
Update April 14, 2024 at 11:17 a.m. ET: Updated with comments from developers Riley Testut and Mattia La Spina.