After a considerable hiatus, Riley Testut has returned today with a third beta of his emulator application for iOS, Delta.
A relatively small changelog accompanies this update to the gaming application, a successor to the ever-popular GBA4iOS, and almost three months separate it from the previous release, Beta 2.
What’s notable about this release, aside from its internal changes, are the couple of titbits of information which Testut gives in his accompanying email. Firstly, he mentions personal considerations in recent times which have impacted his ability to work on Delta. This explains the fairly large gap between betas, as well as the small changelog for this release. Testut does however mention that these issues are now for the most part behind him, allowing him to devote more time to finishing up Delta.
Secondly, the release notes allude to an all-new distribution system which he is developing alongside Delta, in the hope that when the emulator is ready for primetime it can be freely and easily obtained, avoiding the current difficulties which such applications encounter.
The first Delta beta was distributed through Apple’s own TestFlight system, but was quickly pulled due to the time-honoured ban on emulators in the App Store. The second and third betas have thus been distributed in the form of an .ipa only, necessitating side loading with Impactor or Xcode. This method runs into the problems of signing limits and technical knowhow, and is not ideal for a wide and foolproof distribution on release. Testut clearly hopes that his new system will allow the average user to get their hands on Delta in a painless manner when the time comes.
The modifications in Delta Beta 3 are reproduced below for you to look over:
Features
- Added the ability to browse the included games database and select a new cover image for a game. To do so, press and hold on a game, and select “Change Artwork”. You can then search the entire database to find a game whose artwork you’d like to use.
Improvements
- Updated the GBA and SNES skins for a more modern look.
- Added an animation when adding/deleting save states.
Fixes
- Resolved a crash when renaming a game that results in it changing positions.
As you can see, the deltas to this Delta are on the light side, but in combination with Testut’s assertion that he will be able to give more time to the project going forward, I’m optimistic that we’ll see some interesting things in the coming months. He even hints that the next beta may be a big one, perhaps including Game Boy Color emulation for the first time. We’ll have to see if that pans out.
I’ll let you know if I encounter any other changes in my testing of Delta, and feel free to ask any questions about it you may have in the comments below.