Thanks to recent changes in the Apple App Store, a new kind of app, previously unseen on the iPhone, has arrived: the gaming emulator. On April 5 Apple made changes to the App Store guidelines. Though some of these changes only concerned users in the EU (full details here), the update to allow game emulator apps applies worldwide.
The new app iGBA.
Well, just a few days later, emulator apps are appearing in the App Store. Onse such app is iGBA, which allows users to play Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games on the iPhone or iPad. That was quick.
April 15 update below. This post was first published on April 14, 2024.
There will doubtless be more emulator apps in quick succession—this is a very big change for the iPhone.
Two weeks ago, this app would not have been admitted to the App Store.
This emulator is aimed at simulating Nintendo devices, and mean that if you have a ROM file for a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Color game, you can open it in iGBA and start playing it.
Let’s be clear, to avoid legal issues, you should own a copy of the game in question, and not just download a ROM from the internet, though these are widely available. Local laws differ, so check before you risk breaking the law. As Tech Radar points out: “A word of warning though: in most parts of the world, the only way to use these emulators legally is by ripping the code from the original disks or cartridges that you've already paid for – otherwise you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.
In practice, the app works well. I played Super Mario World, a game I have owned for decades, on the iPhone and iPad. It plays in the top half of the iPhone screen. You can also turn the iPhone to landscape orientation for a larger-screen experience (though the overlaid joypad and buttons do get in the way a bit), and playing it on an iPad is easier, though it certainly reveals the limitations of the retro graphics.
Since iGBA has arrived just a matter of days after the rules changed, it’s possible we will see a glut of emulator apps descend in the near future.
However, the situation gets more complex, and here’s the catch. According to The Verge, “it doesn’t look like iGBA is developer Mattia La Spina’s own work. In an email to The Verge, developer Riley Testut said the app is an unauthorized clone of GBA4iOS, the open-source emulator he created for iOS over a decade ago… He said his app uses the GNU GPLv2 license. A Mastodon user found that iGBA does not reference the license, which may violate its terms. Despite that, he says it’s Apple he’s frustrated with, not La Spina.”
Testut says that he is planning to launch his own app, Delta, soon. The Verge goes on: “When reached for comment, La Spina did not explicitly confirm using Testut’s code, but told The Verge they “did not think the app would have so much repercussion, I am really sorry,” and added that they have reached out to Testut via email.” It’s worth noting that iGBA collects data such as location data and identifiers. As such, it may be worth waiting for Delta to arrive on the App Store.
April 15 update. The arrival of emulator apps may have been quick, but there’s now been a development that’s been even quicker. 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 of the app violating App Review Guidelines. Rossignol was told what was happening by Apple.
Rossignol said, “Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details.”
Well, as you’ve seen above, there was already concern that the app was a copycat of another app called GBA4iOS, from developer Riley Testut. Testut said in a Threads post, on Saturday, April 13, “So apparently Apple approved a knock-off of GBA4iOS—the predecessor to Delta I made in high school—in the App Store. I did not give anyone permission to do this, yet it’s now sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads + tracking)I’ve bit my tongue a bunch in the past month…but this really frustrates me. So glad App Review exists to protect consumers from scams and rip-offs like this.”
It's not yet clear what the exact reason for the removal was: is it because it looked like a copycat of Testut’s app or if, perhaps, Nintendo complained to Apple. After all, the games are Nintendo’s property and not everybody is conscientious about only downloading ROMs of games they already own.
Perhaps the interest will encourage Testut to release Delta in the App Store as well—it’s already been confirmed it will come to the AltStore alternative marketplace in the EU.
