Less than a few weeks after receiving a takedown notice from Nintendo of America, iOS developer Riley Testut has made his popular Gameboy Advance emulator GBA4iOS available for download again. An updated version of the emulator is now available through the official GBA4iOS website, which came back online just moments ago. Testut confirmed the news on Twitter in a recent tweet…
GBA4iOS is back from its DMCA death! Go ahead and download GBA4iOS 2.0.4 from http://t.co/2egsx0sRNS 🙂
— Riles 🤷♂️ (@rileytestut) May 23, 2014
GBA4iOS has been modified to comply with Nintendo’s copyright concerns outlined in its official DMCA complaint. The biggest change involves the in-app web browser, which now links to the Google homepage instead of directly to the CoolROM website for downloading ROMs. GBA4iOS 2.0.4 should now be compliant with this portion of the takedown notice — full text — in particular:
“This web site hosts a downloadable mobile application for iOS that provides users with access to unauthorized and illegal copies of Nintendo’s copyright-protected video games in violation of Nintendo’s exclusive rights. Users can download the infringing application by clicking one of the ‘Download GBA4iOS’ buttons on the web site.”
Testut and his partner Paul Thorsen also worked to remove other minor copyright-infringing aspects of the app, including the use of Gameboy Advance logos in certain controller skins. A number of bug fixes were also made. The duo will now shift their focus back to the upcoming GBA4iOS 2.1 update, which will have an improved visual design and other new features.
For those interested in learning more, Testut recently published a lengthy article on his personal blog to explain the GBA4iOS and Nintendo situation in detail. In particular, the 18-year-old high school student stresses that Nintendo is a good company that was simply looking to protect its intellectual property. He takes fault for linking to CoolROM, a website that distributes ROMs, in the in-app web browser.
You can download GBA4iOS 2.0.4 from the official emulator website.
Are you excited that GBA4iOS has returned?