Over the weekend, a Game Boy emulator called iGBA appeared in the iPhone App Store, but Apple quickly removed the app for violating the company’s app review guidelines related to spam and copyright. Apple has since shared additional details about why it removed iGBA from the App Store, and also clarified its guidelines for emulators.
The iGBA was a copy of developer Riley Testut’s open source GBA4iOS app, with ads added on top. Although it didn’t explicitly name GBA4iOS, Apple told us it removed iGBA from the App Store after learning it was a fake app that copied another developer’s work and tried to pass it off as its own.
Namely, Apple has confirmed to us that emulators in the App Store are allowed to load ROMs downloaded from the web, as long as the app only emulates retro console games. Apple also said it approved the iGBA’s functionality, before learning it was a fake app, suggesting Game Boy emulation is allowed in the App Store, but the company has yet to share other examples of retro gaming consoles.
All in all, it seems that iGBA was removed from the App Store entirely because it was a ripoff of GBA4iOS, not because of piracy concerns stemming from being able to load any ROM downloaded from the web. But exactly which consoles Apple considers retro and whether there will be any other restrictions remains to be seen.
It also remains to be seen how Nintendo will react to Apple’s approval of a Game Boy emulator for distribution through the App Store on the iPhone. On its US customer support website, Nintendo says that downloading pirated copies of its games is illegal:
Pirated copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs”.
Uploading and downloading pirated copies of Nintendo games is illegal.
We’ve reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to allow retro game console emulators earlier this month. Apple says emulator developers are “responsible for all such software” offered in the app, including compliance with “all applicable laws.”