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New rules in the Apple App Store will allow iPhone users to emulate older games on their powerful mobile devices. But just a week after the rule went into effect, Apple is already visibly stumbling.
Last weekend, a working Game Boy emulator called iGBA hit the App Store. The app is one of the first to take advantage of Apple’s latest rules that allow game emulators to be listed in digital shops. This app allows a user to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on his iPhone (via his downloadable ROMs). It quickly rose to the top of the App Store charts.
But by Sunday, the app was removed from the App Store for violating a completely different set of rules. iGBA was a clone of an app created by another well-known developer.
Before Apple removed the iGBA emulator from the App Store on Sunday, iPhone users could play Game Boy ROMs on their devices.
wayback machine
Developer Riley Testut explained on Threads on Sunday that iGBA is based on research from GBA4iOS, an open source Game Boy emulator he created with friends in 2014.
“I didn’t give anyone permission and now I’m sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads and tracking),” Testutto wrote.
Publishing an app based on someone else’s work violates Apple’s App Review Guidelines.Apple admitted that mcroomers Senior reporter Joe Rossignol said iGBA was removed for violating rules regarding spam and copyright, among other things.
“To be clear, I’m not mad at the developers,” Testut continued. “I’m angry that Apple took the time to change the App Store rules to allow emulators, but then approved a copy of my app.”
The iPhone is powerful enough to run older Nintendo Game Boy games.
Wikimedia Commons
Testutto is understandably annoyed. If you want to play retro games, there are plenty of ways to get around the iPhone’s rigid operating system. But now that these techniques are now integrated into Apple’s platform (a feature that has been included in Android phones for years), the tech giant can better monitor what programs are made available. is needed.
The emulator world is already in a morally unstable situation. Software that can emulate the inner workings of old video game consoles is completely legal. However, it is illegal to play game files or ROMs without owning the physical version of the game (although the entire game library is easily available online). Unless the app developer provides copyrighted game files to the emulator, the app must be fully permitted to be listed in the app store. Opportunistic app developers looking to make a quick buck off of other people’s work only complicates what is entirely new territory for Apple.
Neither Apple nor Nintendo responded to requests for comment. reciprocal.
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