A new rule for the Apple App Store means that iPhone users will now be able to emulate old games on their powerful mobile devices. But barely a week after the rule went into effect, Apple has already stumbled in a very visible way.
Over the weekend, a working Game Boy emulator called iGBA appeared on the App Store. The app was one of the first to take advantage of Apple’s updated rules, which now allow game emulators to appear in the digital store. The app allows users to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games (via downloadable ROMs) on the iPhone. It quickly rose to the top of the App Store charts.
By Sunday, however, the app had been removed from the App Store for violating an entirely different set of rules: iGBA is a clone of an app created by another prominent developer.
iPhone users were able to play Game Boy ROMs on their devices before Apple removed the iGBA emulator from the App Store on Sunday.
The Wayback Machine
Developer Riley Testut took to Threads on Sunday to explain that the iGBA is based on his work on GBA4iOS, an open-source Game Boy emulator he created with a friend in 2014.
“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),” Testut wrote.
Publishing an app based on someone else’s work violates Apple’s app review guidelines. Apple confirmed that MacRumors senior reporter Joe Rossignol said that iGBA was removed because it specifically ran afoul of its spam and copyright policies.
“To be clear, I’m not mad at the developer,” Testut continued. “I’m angry that Apple took the time to change the App Store rules to allow emulators and then approve a copycat of my own app.”
The iPhone is more than capable of running old Nintendo Game Boy games.
Wikimedia Commons
Testut has a right to be frustrated. There have been many ways to get around the iPhone’s strict operating system when it comes to playing retro games. But with those methods now integrated into Apple’s platform (a feature Android phones have had for years), the tech giant has to better keep track of what programs are available.
The emulator world is already on shaky moral ground. Software that can mimic the inner workings of old video game consoles is completely legal. However, it is illegal to play game files or ROMs without owning a physical version of the game (despite entire game libraries being available online). As long as the app developers don’t provide any copyrighted game files with the emulator, the app should be fully cleared to appear in the app store. Opportunistic app developers looking to make a quick buck off of other people’s work will only complicate what is completely new territory for Apple.
Neither Apple nor Nintendo responded to requests for comment Inverse.