Apple pulled the copycat Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store on iPhone, but other Nintendo emulators like GBA4iOS have already been submitted.
iGBA was available on the App Store for a few days. However, Apple took it down after learning iGBA was a blatant ripoff of the GBA4iOS project bursting with ads.
Rilus Testut, the brains behind the open-source GBA4iOS emulator, said Apple’s review team eventually came to realize that iGBA was a copycat version of his app laden with ads and tracking so it nuked iGBA out of orbit.
Why Apple booted the knockoff Game Boy emulator iGBA
He’s not angry with the iGBA developer even though they used almost the exact same code as his GBA4iOS emulator.
“I’m pissed that Apple took the time to change the App Store rules to allow emulators and then approved a knockoff of my own app — even though I’ve been ready to launch AltStore with Delta since March 5.” AltStore is among the alternative app marketplaces soon available to iPhone owners in the European Union.
GBA4iOS precedes Delta, the original Nintendo emulator app Rilus made in high school to play Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color titles on his iPhone and iPad. GBA4iOS has not been available on the App Store for years, but you can grab a version for jailbroken iPhones from AltStore.
As an open-source project, GBA4iOS is also available on GitHub as a downloadable project you can compile and deploy on your iPhone with Xcode.
GBA4vOS for Vision Pro is being tested
An Apple Vision Pro version of GBA4iOS, called GBA4vOS, is in the works. It literally lets you place your favorite Game Boy titles anywhere in your world. For example, you can make WarioWare bigger than life and play by rotating your hands.
“Whether it’s floating above your kitchen pot or an IMAX display on the moon, there’s never been a better way to game (boy),” he wrote on Threads.
The app is being beta tested on TestFlight, but no more seats are available due to high interest. Of course, Riley is planning to release GBA4iOS on the regular App Store and has already submitted it to Apple.
Will GBAS4iOS and Delta launch on the App Store?
For what it’s worth, he is also testing Delta, his original Nintendo emulator, on TestFlight but has yet to submit it to the App Store or AltStore.
In response to pressure from regulators, Apple has changed the App Store rules to allow retro gaming emulators, including those that offer downloadable titles. Such software previously sneaked into the App Store by hiding a full-blown emulator in an ordinary-looking app but is now accepted by Apple globally.
Apple now permits retro console emulators on iPhone
The updated App Review Guidelines confirm that retro gaming emulators can offer downloadable games but don’t say what consoles Apple considers retro.
Meaning, Nintendo emulators that let folks import and use ROMs downloaded from the web are now perfectly acceptable so long as they break no laws.
Of course, downloading pirated copies of old games is illegal. For context, Apple’s guidelines spell out in black and white that it’s a developer’s sole responsibility to ensure that their retro gaming emulators comply with all applicable laws.