[ad_1]
Earlier this month, Apple quietly adjusted its Apple Store review guidelines, adding new language specifically stating that “retro game console emulator apps may offer game downloads,” and allowing the company to offer emulators on iOS. This is the first time I’ve allowed it. Banzai!
It didn’t take long for someone to take advantage of this new permission. iGBA, the Game Boy emulator, hit the App Store last weekend and quickly shot to the top of the free apps charts. This introductory emulator seemed to follow Apple’s new rules. Since piracy is clearly illegal, this app will only run ROMs that you have downloaded yourself onto your iPhone’s files. iPhone gamers rejoiced. Apple then removed the emulator from its marketplace just days after its launch. iPhone gamers mourned.
We still don’t know exactly why Apple stripped iGBA, but there seems to be an explanation. Also, it has nothing to do with pirated games. Developer Riley Testut took to Threads on Sunday to highlight the fact that iGBA appears to be a copy of its own emulator, GBA4iOS. Despite Testut not allowing the code to be used, iGBA somehow managed to get it past Apple’s strict App Review process and land on the App Store itself.
Tetsut has been trying to launch an alternative app store, AltStore, in the European Union for more than a month, and once that happens, it plans to roll out Delta, a revised version of GBA4iOS. Amid all this, Testsut says he’s particularly frustrated by Apple’s quick approval of plagiarism of its own apps.
That said, Apple seems to have taken Testut’s claims seriously. My guess is that the company started investigating and once Apple confirmed that iGBA was indeed made from stolen code, they removed it from the App Store.
This process appears to follow what is described in the company’s app review guidelines.
”
Make sure your app only contains content that you create or that you have a license to use. If you cross the line and use content without permission, your app may be removed. Of course, this also means that if someone else’s app “borrows” from your work, it may be removed.
”
There is much to learn from this experience. First of all, don’t steal. That’s a mistake, and no matter how successful you are, if you do that, Apple will ban you from the App Store. Second, and more importantly for most people, don’t download the first emulator that hits the iOS App Store. Tetsutto says that iGBA is rife with ads and tracking, meaning happy retro gamers playing Pokemon on their iPhones this weekend likely had their privacy violated. There is no evidence that there was an iGBA. maliciousBut it’s easy to imagine another emulator app sneaking into the App Store with malicious intent.
You won’t be able to download iGBA anymore, but it won’t disappear from your iPhone if you already have it installed. You can still use it, but given the circumstances, we recommend removing it. While this change in Apple’s policy is positive, it’s important to take a breath. I’m sure Apple will vet emulations even more in the future, but it might be better to wait until emulators come under more scrutiny. Dive into your favorite retro games.
[ad_2]
Source link
