With Apple having recently updated their guidelines for the App Store, iOS users have been left to speculate on specific wording and whether retro emulators as we know them would truly have a place in the great walled garden. Today it seems our questions have been answered with the arrival of what appears to be the first traditional emulator on the App Store: iGBA. Having downloaded it myself I can confirm it is a functional GBA and GBC emulator, so what’s the catch?

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Well to be blunt, this really just looks like the classic iOS emulator GBA4iOS, with unavoidable advertisements thrown in for good measure. This comes from a developer with an extensive library of apps ranging from barcode scanners to money trackers, all oddly four years old. It comes across as a quick cash in while there are no other accessible alternatives and it isn’t something that should be supported, especially as more feature-rich and actively developed emulators like Ignited have been rejected as spam.

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If you are interested in emulation on iOS I’d encourage you to look into sideloading, with apps like AltStore making the process surprisingly painless nowadays, and allowing you to install up to two other apps alongside AltStore itself. This comes with a caveat that you need to check in with a PC every seven days to keep your apps playable, but it’s a price worth paying when you consider you’re getting ad-free emulation. And ad-free emulation that supports both DS and N64 games with no issues.

Emulation on iOS can actually be pretty great!​

iGBA could yet be a positive sign of things to come, with this potentially demystifying Apple’s latest guidelines. It’s a space worth watching for any iOS users out there, even if the first to make it through isn’t quite what we’d hope to have seen.

Update: Other Emulators on the App Store
Note that outside of iGBA, other "emulators" have been appearing on the App Store. The ones I'm aware of are "My Boy! - GBA Emulator", "John GBA", and "DraStic DS Emulator 3D", all by Anas Zakarneh. These each cost £6.99 and and are not emulators. Scrolling through their screenshots reveal that they are cheap games trying to cash in on the emulation hype before the real apps hit the scene. Be cautious, do research, and don't get caught out.

 

[DragonMals]

This looks extremely promising for iOS users! Although I am not one myself (I used to be), it's great to see that they're finally getting a true taste into Retro Emulation officially endorsed by Apple. How long did it take for them to actually do this, btw?

 

[LightBeam]

This comes with a caveat that you need to check in with a PC every seven days to keep your apps playable

That's just crazy that Apple makes you go through that. That's one reason I don't think I will ever use an iPhone as my daily driver.

I do wish I had an iPhone or a Mac just to know about the environment, I'm always trying to hack stuff and jailbreaking, block ads and sideloading apps would definitely be the first things I would try to do

 

[Scarlet]

That's just crazy that Apple makes you go through that. That's one reason I don't think I will ever use an iPhone as my daily driver.

I do wish I had an iPhone or a Mac just to know about the environment, I'm always trying to hack stuff and jailbreaking, block ads and sideloading apps would definitely be the first things I would try to do

My bad for not clarifying a little better. The reason you need to do that is because sideloading in its current form takes advantage of the fact a free developer account can have up to three apps associated with it. For a free account these apps need to be renewed every seven days, which is what AltStore (and its companion app AltServer) automates. If you don't mind paying for a developer account, I think the app expiry gets boosted to yearly, so that is an option. Seven days is fine for me though, I'm rarely away from a PC for longer than that.

 

[NinStar]

Why people even bother with Apple products nowadays? Like for real, what is the point? These things are already overpriced and for some reason there's still people out there who want to go through the hassle of using their products for things like this? There's nothing special about them and at the end of the day it is just not worth it.

 

[LightBeam]

My bad for not clarifying a little better. The reason you need to do that is because sideloading in its current form takes advantage of the fact a free developer account can have up to three apps associated with it. For a free account these apps need to be renewed every seven days, which is what AltStore (and its companion app AltServer) automates. If you don't mind paying for a developer account, I think the app expiry gets boosted to yearly, so that is an option. Seven days is fine for me though, I'm rarely away from a PC for longer than that.

I guess that depends on the cost of a developer account, that's already a better solution.
I still wish it was as easy as it is on Android tho ... I don't see why it shouldn't be from a consumer perspective

Thanks for the added clarification btw

 

[a_username_that_isnt_cool]

I guess that depends on the cost of a developer account, that's already a better solution.
I still wish it was as easy as it is on Android tho ... I don't see why it shouldn't be from a consumer perspective

Thanks for the added clarification btw

its like a hundred dollars a year

 

[ZeroFX]

Why people even bother with Apple products nowadays? Like for real, what is the point? These things are already overpriced and for some reason there's still people out there who want to go through the hassle of using their products for things like this? There's nothing special about them and at the end of the day it is just not worth it.

yes, if you like to fiddle with your phone or have responsibility with your money then stay away... it's a phone for old people and normies.

 

[Cranesbill]

Looks Suspicious

 

[Quore]

I think in general its a Big W for iOS users imo. Not only because of this specific emulator (even if this is suspicious) but to think that in the future it's going to be easier to install emulators on iOS.

Now imagine that: In some years, Apple will could make it less painful to connect an iPhone to a Windows PC (or even Linux, who knows) and with that, making the process of putting ROMs in it much easier.

I don't have any iOS device but i still feel happy with all of this.

 

[HarveyHouston]

Apple is what Apple is: Pure garbage. My advice? Don't even bother with it.

 

[ccfman2004]

If you want to get around the 3 app limitation and 7 day limit you can buy a developer license for $100 per year than you can sideload as many apps as you want. I did that in the past.

To be fair I have tried Android devices several times and it has always been a painful experience.

 

[x65943]

"This comes with a caveat that you need to check in with a PC every seven days to keep your apps playable"

"If you want to get around the 3 app limitation and 7 day limit you can buy a developer license for $100"

The absolute state of iPhone users

 

[AshuraZro]

What I wonder is how Apple will handle complaints and takedown requests from Nintendo and others on the topic of emulators. I’m aware emulators are legal but given its Apple and their rules or nothing approach, who knows how much resistance they’ll put up to any complaint against an emulator.

They could bend at any complaint they want and still be able to say “We allow emulators” in any court or anti-trust case. Let’s be honest, these consessions exist only for that reason and we’ve already seen how they handled other concessions in the EU.

Also, in general, can we skip the whole “iPhone sucks/Android sucks” debate? It’s been something like 16 years now. Its fucking insufferable enough with Windows, Mac and Linux users. Use what is best for your workflow and life and don’t put others down for doing the same.

 

[CeeDee]

Also, in general, can we skip the whole “iPhone sucks/Android sucks” debate? It’s been something like 16 years now. Its fucking insufferable enough with Windows, Mac and Linux users. Use what is best for your workflow and life and don’t put others down for doing the same.

It's not good enough that I'm happy, I need to put others down for liking different things!

 

[PopcornSweetie]

"This comes with a caveat that you need to check in with a PC every seven days to keep your apps playable"

"If you want to get around the 3 app limitation and 7 day limit you can buy a developer license for $100"

The absolute state of iPhone users

If they can pay $1000+ for a fucking phone. $100 is nothing for them.

 

[x65943]

If they can pay $1000+ for a fucking phone. $100 is nothing for them.

I'm not gonna act like I don't buy flagship $1000 phones, but at that price I expect my phone to do what I want it to do

Imagine buying a sports car that is locked to 60mph or less

 

[porkiewpyne]

I'm not gonna act like I don't buy flagship $1000 phones, but at that price I expect my phone to do what I want it to do

Imagine buying a sports car that is locked to 60mph or less

Funny you should say that. IIRC Mercedes tried to paywall top speed or acceleration a while back? And of course there's BMW's heated seat shenanigans.

We have enough people willing to be screwed over. Heck, some might even revel in that fact. As long as that doesn't change, companies will just keep finding new ways to charge more

 

[MarkDarkness]

People who insist on using Apple products deserve the second class citizen treatment they get.

Post automatically merged: Apr 14, 2024

To be fair I have tried Android devices several times and it has always been a painful experience.

It's called "choosing the wrong phones". Most countries are Android-based rather than the developed world's obsession with Apple's expensive unfixable bricks.

 

[Bladexdsl]

meanwhile on android you have full control of your apps and how many you can install