Over the weekend, the game’s first emulator for handheld consoles hit the App Store, after relaxing the App Store Review Guidelines a week prior.
Fast forward 24 hours and the app is gone, pulled from the App Store. However, we are not sure why. It’s possible that emulators aren’t actually allowed to load ROMs, and this one slipped through. Or, it could be that the iGBA is simply a clone of the GBA4iOS open-source project, and was pushed into the store without permission or the proper license.
MacRumors’ Joe Rossignol says Apple told him the app was removed due to spam and copyright violations.
Unfortunately, this is not very clear and still leaves open the question of whether ROM emulators are allowed in the eyes of App Review or not.
Copyright infringement could be confirmed because GBA4iOS creator Riley Testut complained that iGBA was stealing his code and assets. (The only significant change between iGBA and GBA4iOS was the addition of advertisements.) But it may also have been triggered by the potential piracy implications associated with ROM emulators as a category.
We just don’t know at this point. Apple’s changes to App Store policies mention emulators in relation to a collection of games within a single app; it does not specifically state whether the application is allowed to include the function of importing and loading ROMs.
The release of the iGBA was strong evidence that it was actually allowed, but now it’s been rejected for unclear reasons and we’re back to square one. It would be nice if the App Review guidelines unequivocally stated Apple’s stance on emulators, one way or another.
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