Thanks to recent changes to the Apple App Store, a new type of app has arrived, never before seen on the iPhone: a game emulator. On April 5, Apple made changes to the App Store guidelines. While some of these changes only affected users in the EU ( full details here ), the update that enables game emulator apps is rolling out worldwide.
New iGBA app.
Well, just a few days later, emulator apps appear in the App Store. One such application is iGBA, which allows users to play Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games on an iPhone or iPad. That was quick.
April 15th update below. This post was first published on April 14, 2024.
There will undoubtedly be more emulator apps in quick succession—this is a big change for the iPhone.
Two weeks ago, this app would not have been accepted into the App Store.
This emulator is intended to simulate Nintendo devices and means that if you have a ROM file for a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Color game, you can open it in the iGBA and start playing.
Let’s be clear, to avoid legal trouble you should own a copy of the game in question and not just download ROMs from the internet, although those are widely available. Local laws vary, so check before you run the risk of breaking the law. As Tech Radar points out: “One caveat though: in most parts of the world, the only way to legally use these emulators is to copy the code from the original discs or cartridges you’ve already paid for – otherwise you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.
In practice, the application works well. I’ve been playing Super Mario World, a game I’ve owned for decades, on my iPhone and iPad. It plays in the top half of the iPhone screen. You can also turn the iPhone into landscape orientation for a larger-screen experience (though the covered joypad and buttons are a bit of a nuisance), and gaming on the iPad is easier, though it certainly exposes the limitations of the retro graphics. .
Since the iGBA arrived just days after the rules changed, it’s possible we’ll see a glut of emulator apps in the near future.
However, the situation becomes more complex and there is a wait. According to The Verge, “it doesn’t appear that the iGBA is developer Mattia La Spina’s own work. In the email sent The Verge, developer Riley Testut said the app is an unauthorized clone of GBA4iOS, an open source emulator he created for iOS over a decade ago… He said his app uses the GNU GPLv2 license. A Mastodon user discovered that the iGBA does not mention the license, which may violate its terms. Even so, he says he’s frustrated with Apple, not La Spina.”
Testut says he plans to launch his own Delta app soon. The Verge continues: “When reached for comment, La Spina did not explicitly confirm the use of Testuto’s code, but did say 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. It is worth noting that iGBA collects data such as location data and identifiers. As such, it might be worth waiting for Delta to hit the App Store.
Update as of April 15. The arrival of emulator apps may have been fast, but now there has been a development that has been even faster. The iGBA app above has been pulled from the App Store. According to Joe Rossignol at MacRumors, the app was removed last night (Sunday, April 14) because the app was in violation of the App Review Guidelines. Rossignol was told by Apple what was going on.
Rossignol said: “Apple announced today that it has removed the Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company’s Spam App Review Guidelines (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but did not provide any specific details.”
Well, as you saw above, there were already concerns that the app was a copycat of another app called GBA4iOS, from developer Riley Testuto. In a Threads post on Saturday, April 13, Testut said: “So apparently Apple has approved a copy of GBA4iOS—the precursor to the Delta I made in high school—in the App Store. I didn’t give anyone permission to do this, but now it’s at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads + tracking). I’ve been biting my tongue for the past month… but this is really frustrating me. I’m glad App Review exists to protect consumers from scams and scams like this.”
It’s not yet clear what the exact reason for the removal was: was it because it looked like a copy of Testuto’s app, or perhaps Nintendo complained to Apple. After all, the games are owned by Nintendo and not everyone is conscientious about only downloading ROMs of the games they already own.
Perhaps the interest will prompt Testut to release Delta on the App Store as well—it’s already confirmed to be coming to the AltStore alternative marketplace in the EU.