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What to Know About Apple Allowing Game Emulators in the App Store

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Apple updated its App Review Guidelines this month to allow "retro game console emulator apps" on the App Store for the iPhone and other devices. Below, we outline everything to know about these emulators and available options so far.

Emulators-in-the-App-Store-What-to-Know-1.jpg

This information is up to date as of April 2024, but Apple's policies could change over time.

What is Allowed

Apple told us that emulators that can load games (ROMs) are permitted on the App Store, so long as the apps are emulating "retro console games" only.

Apple would not tell us which consoles it classifies as retro, but developer Riley Testut's popular emulator Delta is now available on the App Store, and it can emulate games for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Nintendo 64, and Nintendo DS.

Emulators-in-the-App-Store-What-to-Know-2.jpg

There is also a Commodore 64 emulator on the App Store called Emu64 XL.

We have not come across any other fully-functioning emulators on the App Store released after the rule change, but more will likely be available in the future. Apple recently removed an emulator called iGBA from the App Store for ripping off Testut's code for Delta and its predecessor GBA4iOS, while the developer of NES emulator Bimmy decided to remove the app from the App Store to avoid the risk of legal action from Nintendo.

Legality

While a U.S. court ruled that emulators are legal, downloading copyrighted ROMs is typically against the law in the country. On its customer support website in the U.S., Nintendo says that downloading pirated copies of its games is illegal:
Pirate copies of game files are often referred to as "ROMs".

The uploading and downloading of pirate copies of Nintendo games is illegal.
Click to expand...
Nintendo recently sued the developers of Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu for "facilitating piracy at a colossal scale," leading to a reported $2.4 million settlement. Nintendo has yet to comment on the availability of emulators in the App Store, but Delta and its predecessor GBA4iOS have been available on the iPhone outside of the App Store for over a decade now without being shut down. Nintendo did issue a DMCA takedown notice against the GBA4iOS website in 2014, but the emulators have continued to remain available.

For those who want to abide by the letter of the law, it is generally legal to download and play "homebrew" games available in the public domain.

Article Link: What to Know About Apple Allowing Game Emulators in the App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/04/17/what-to-know-about-iphone-app-store-emulators/
Last edited:
vertsix

vertsix

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Most notably, JIT (just-in-time) compilation is not allowed at the OS-level, something Android has.

This is due to security issues, which are valid, but will affect emulation of a lot of hardware.

So Android still has the upside here, but now Apple allowing emulators removes one of the biggest reasons to use Android (if you don't care about JIT and emulating some hardware).

I'm excited what other emulators surface.
 
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IllegitimateValor

IllegitimateValor

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Wish Nintendo would buyout the emulator developed without their help and release them with content available above-board. But that’s like asking Google not to sell ads. Nintendo sells hardware. The device lock-in to their ecosystem has value too much for them to cede territory. So things’ll stay homebrew or seven seas.
 
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ThatGuyInLa

ThatGuyInLa

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"Retro," wow. They are really being vague there. I get they are trying to be nice and help out, actually. Which is cool. Do not think for a minute Nintendo won't come after any app that lets their games be played with it. Same for Sony. If it persists, they'll hit up Apple next.
 
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TigerNike23

TigerNike23

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ThatGuyInLa said:
"Retro," wow. They are really being vague there. I get they are trying to be nice and help out, actually. Which is cool. Do not think for a minute Nintendo won't come after any app that lets their games be played with it. Same for Sony. If it persists, they'll hit up Apple next.
Click to expand...
When I think “retro” I think pre-PlayStation. So, roughly anything before 1995.
 
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DFZD

DFZD

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Nintendo only comes after you if you try to make money from their IP. So none of the parties involved including Apple can make a single dime out of it. But emulators will help Apple sell some more devices as they will unlock a new untapped market that Android dominates.
 
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A

aloysiusfreeman

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Sep 7, 2022
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vertsix said:
Most notably, JIT (just-in-time) compilation is not allowed at the OS-level, something Android has.

This is due to security issues, which are valid, but will affect emulation of a lot of hardware.

So Android still has the upside here, but now Apple allowing emulators removes one of the biggest reasons to use Android (if you don't care about JIT and emulating some hardware).

I'm excited what other emulators surface.
Click to expand...
This is what makes me sad, because my coworker has Dolphin on his Android and would LOVE to play Wind Waker again.
 
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klasma

klasma

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TigerNike23 said:
When I think “retro” I think pre-PlayStation. So, roughly anything before 1995.
Click to expand...
The N64 emulated by Delta is post-PlayStation, from 1996, and the Nintendo DS is even from 2004. So the GameCube and PS2 should be fine.

Let’s say everything before the iPhone is “retro”. Or maybe everything not newer than what Apple calls “vintage”. ;)
 
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D

d686546s

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ThatGuyInLa said:
Do not think for a minute Nintendo won't come after any app that lets their games be played with it. Same for Sony. If it persists, they'll hit up Apple next.
Click to expand...

Considering that these apps have existed on Android for a long time, which let's not forget is the dominant mobile OS pretty much everywhere other than the US, I would have thought they would have done that already if they thought they had a legal leg to stand on.

Nintendo has been very strategic in their legal strategy and I suspect they want to avoid setting an even more unhelpful legal precedent (for them).
 
jent

jent

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I haven't been paying attention to this space and just want to ask an obvious question: since Apple added support for connecting to modern console controllers via Bluetooth, does that mean you can use them in any app (in this case, meaning the newly-approved retro emulators)? Or is it an Apple Arcade-only thing?
 
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Vulkan

Vulkan

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EightyEight said:
What are the chances of seeing an Apple ][ emulator on iOS? Loadrunner, Hard Hat Mack, Olympic Decathlon...
Click to expand...
I use this on my iPad Pro and it works pretty well, it works really well on the iphone as well...
https://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/

Applesoft Basic:
http://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/#prodos

LOGO:
http://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/#logo

Lode Runner:
http://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/#lode_runner
Anyone know the keys?

Remember Zork:
http://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/#zork_1

To read more about the project: https://github.com/whscullin/apple2js#readme

Original poster: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-ipad-browser-who-needs-an-app-store.1506409/
 
TracesOfArsenic

TracesOfArsenic

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Feb 22, 2018
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Fuzzball84 said:
There is no real definition of retro except for it loosely being of recent past.... that would mean Xbox one, PS3 and Wii U and older...
Click to expand...
My take on this is Apple are protecting anything that's currently being developed for their ecosystem. If they're not currently making money on it they don't care.
 
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