The last update to the Apple App Store guidelines indicated that "retro game console emulator apps" are now allowed on the App Store. This coincides with other changes to policy including allowances made for super apps and game streaming apps as well as changes in the EU to allow alternative app stores and the sideloading of content not purchased on the App Store that this entails.
This OT is for discussion of this rapidly moving development, including news about releases of new apps, tips and tricks and guides, and general discussion of the iOS emulation experience. As a reminder, whilst emulation is legal and even forms the backbone of official releases in some instances, piracy very much is not and discussion of illegally obtained roms isn't permitted on ResetEra.
Enter... Delta
After a couple of spammy and/or broken apps from chancers, iOS emulation stalwart Riley Testut surprised us all this week by officially releasing the emulator Delta onto the App Store... everywhere except the EU. At first glance this seems to me to be a response to his open source code for GBA4iOS being hastily submitted by the aforementioned chancers.
You can download Delta on the App Store here:
Delta is a mature app, having been developed and built upon for years, and this current version supports the following systems:
You can! Just not in the App Store. Delta has been available on the iPhone for quite some time - without jailbreaking your device - through the AltStore, a clever method of leveraging the free ability to register as an iOS developer with a custom server companion app that you run on your Mac or PC that does a lot of the messing around for you. I've done this, and it works and is quite good, but it requires you to "check-in" with the server at least once a week. If you run it in the background, this is fine, but it's a bit clunky so it depends how much you want the app.
The AltStore was created to ensure people could use Delta without jailbreaking their phone or doing any other nefarious work - but it grew into a platform of its own which allowed sideloading of apps in a safer way with listed permissions, a lovely looking store app, and a lot of the configuration sorted for you.
So with the EU now allowing true third party app stores, the AltStore team have now launched AltStore PAL. This costs €1.50 per year to access to cover some of Apple's fees. However, because Apple is grinding their teeth as much as possible in giving developers access to launch their own stores, a rule they've implemented means you cannot release an app on the Official App Store and also offer it on an alternative App Store. This unfortunately means that EU gamers will have to work a little bit harder to get the app.
How do I get ROMs onto my iPhone?
There are numerous ways, including:
Some more information is available here:
So... how do I control these games?
Each of the currently supported systems has on-screen controls with haptic feedback - for many games, particularly slower-paced games such as RPGs, this works well - but for the best experience I'd recommend using a controller such as a Backbone One, Razer Kishi and some others recently recommend the GameSir G8 Galileo, or you can use a Dual Shock 4, Dual Sense or Xbox controller via Bluetooth.
From my experience, be careful about how well phones with a larger, protruding camera fits your chosen device - some, such as the Backbone One, offer a free adapter to make sure it fits (for iPhone 13 Pro/14 Pro), but you need to send away for it depending on which model of the controller you have.
You
can also customise the controller skin, and save these presets per game
One of the first things I did was boot up my copy of Elite Beat Agents, an entirely touch-game, so I changed the controller skin to remove the on-screen buttons and give more real estate to the screens. You can see the Portrait skin I set up for the game here, and also how to change the skin specifically for a game (long-press on the cover artwork!).
Now if only there was a tate controller cradle...
You can make your own controller skins - I eagerly anticipate the first ResetEra themed one - but there's a big catalogue already available here:
Update - our very own gingerbeardman has been tinkering around with new controller skins - you can see his latest releases here.
What about iPad Support? tvOS?
At this stage, this is unclear. The AltStore version of Delta already has iPad support in beta for AltStore patreon users, but it's not guaranteed to be replicated in the official App Store version and the AltStore PAL version is even more up in the air due to the nature of how third party stores work currently. You can run the app as an iPhone version on the iPad, but this isn't ideal.
There is no planned native tvOS version as far as we're aware.
Some other cool features
This is a brand new app to the App Store, but it's been developed for years with new features added frequently. Some cool things to highlight:
RetroArch
It's coming, most probably! Unless the App Store review process gets in the way (or some development stumbles), one of the RetroArch devs confirmed on Reddit that they are working on it. Once this is confirmed and we have an idea of how it will work, I will update this thread accordingly.
About Just-In-Time Compilation (JIT)
Those hoping for Dolphin or other more powerful consoles to be emulated in the near future may need to temper their expectations. In iOS 14.2, Apple enabled Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation, which is what it sounds like - a method of compiling code at runtime rather than in advance. This technique allowed things such as DolphiniOS to get up-and-running, as emulation of newer machines on multi-system apps such as Providence. Unfortunately, though, App Store apps are not allowed to include JIT - it is only available in sideloaded apps. It's unclear why Apple added it but not for App Store apps; presumably for assistance in debugging and testing.
Apps from the original AltStore (not the PAL version) can use JIT when the device is on the same network as a device running AltServer - and whilst this is a neat little thing to play with and test, it's not really practical to use your phone as an emulation device in the long-term. Maybe Apple will change their guidelines, or maybe there's another way around this - but for now, I wouldn't hold your breath!
Update:
Dolphin isn't coming to the App Store
DolphiniOS developer OatmealDome has confirmed they cannot release DolphiniOS essentially due to the JIT stuff I detailed above. You can find out more (and a much better, more technical explanation of JIT) on their blog post confirming the news here.
What else?
This is my first real OT so appreciate any feedback/collaboration and updates. Will try my best to keep up to date.
This OT is for discussion of this rapidly moving development, including news about releases of new apps, tips and tricks and guides, and general discussion of the iOS emulation experience. As a reminder, whilst emulation is legal and even forms the backbone of official releases in some instances, piracy very much is not and discussion of illegally obtained roms isn't permitted on ResetEra.
Enter... Delta
After a couple of spammy and/or broken apps from chancers, iOS emulation stalwart Riley Testut surprised us all this week by officially releasing the emulator Delta onto the App Store... everywhere except the EU. At first glance this seems to me to be a response to his open source code for GBA4iOS being hastily submitted by the aforementioned chancers.
You can download Delta on the App Store here:
Delta - Game Emulator
Delta is an all-in-one emulator for iOS. Delta builds upon the strengths of its predecessor, GBA4iOS, while expanding to include support for more game systems such as NES, SNES, N64, and DS. FEATURES Supported Game Systems • Nintendo Entertainment System • Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
apps.apple.com
Delta is a mature app, having been developed and built upon for years, and this current version supports the following systems:
- GB/GBC
- GBA
- NES
- SNES
- Nintendo 64
- Nintendo DS
You can! Just not in the App Store. Delta has been available on the iPhone for quite some time - without jailbreaking your device - through the AltStore, a clever method of leveraging the free ability to register as an iOS developer with a custom server companion app that you run on your Mac or PC that does a lot of the messing around for you. I've done this, and it works and is quite good, but it requires you to "check-in" with the server at least once a week. If you run it in the background, this is fine, but it's a bit clunky so it depends how much you want the app.
The AltStore was created to ensure people could use Delta without jailbreaking their phone or doing any other nefarious work - but it grew into a platform of its own which allowed sideloading of apps in a safer way with listed permissions, a lovely looking store app, and a lot of the configuration sorted for you.
So with the EU now allowing true third party app stores, the AltStore team have now launched AltStore PAL. This costs €1.50 per year to access to cover some of Apple's fees. However, because Apple is grinding their teeth as much as possible in giving developers access to launch their own stores, a rule they've implemented means you cannot release an app on the Official App Store and also offer it on an alternative App Store. This unfortunately means that EU gamers will have to work a little bit harder to get the app.
How do I get ROMs onto my iPhone?
There are numerous ways, including:
- Saving roms into the Files app on your phone via web browser.
- Moving roms into Files from a USB drive.
- Saving roms into the Files app via Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud or another cloud service.
- Connecting the Files app to a file server via SMB.
Some more information is available here:
Connect servers or external devices with Files on iPhone
In Files on iPhone, view files stored in iCloud Drive and on file servers, other cloud storage providers, USB drives, and SD cards.
support.apple.com
So... how do I control these games?
Each of the currently supported systems has on-screen controls with haptic feedback - for many games, particularly slower-paced games such as RPGs, this works well - but for the best experience I'd recommend using a controller such as a Backbone One, Razer Kishi and some others recently recommend the GameSir G8 Galileo, or you can use a Dual Shock 4, Dual Sense or Xbox controller via Bluetooth.
From my experience, be careful about how well phones with a larger, protruding camera fits your chosen device - some, such as the Backbone One, offer a free adapter to make sure it fits (for iPhone 13 Pro/14 Pro), but you need to send away for it depending on which model of the controller you have.
You
One of the first things I did was boot up my copy of Elite Beat Agents, an entirely touch-game, so I changed the controller skin to remove the on-screen buttons and give more real estate to the screens. You can see the Portrait skin I set up for the game here, and also how to change the skin specifically for a game (long-press on the cover artwork!).
Now if only there was a tate controller cradle...
You can make your own controller skins - I eagerly anticipate the first ResetEra themed one - but there's a big catalogue already available here:
Update - our very own gingerbeardman has been tinkering around with new controller skins - you can see his latest releases here.
What about iPad Support? tvOS?
At this stage, this is unclear. The AltStore version of Delta already has iPad support in beta for AltStore patreon users, but it's not guaranteed to be replicated in the official App Store version and the AltStore PAL version is even more up in the air due to the nature of how third party stores work currently. You can run the app as an iPhone version on the iPad, but this isn't ideal.
There is no planned native tvOS version as far as we're aware.
Some other cool features
This is a brand new app to the App Store, but it's been developed for years with new features added frequently. Some cool things to highlight:
- Airplay Support - your mileage will vary here (though there's been positive reports here on ResetEra) but the game feed can be sent to your AppleTV or other compatible device leaving just UI elements on your phone screen. This means you can also put the DS top screen on the TV and keep the bottom for your phone screen like a giant DS.
- Game Cataloguing options - as shown in the screenshot above, as well as custom controller skins per game you can rename and change the artwork of the games.
- Google Drive and Dropbox Syncing - you can set up syncing between devices (or just as a nice back-up) directly in the app.
- Genesis/Megadrive Support is coming.
- No 7z support, so if you compressed your rom library with this format you will need to decompress before importing.
- You can't force a GBC game to GB mode; if it's a black cartridge game you're stuck with the GBC version - and the libraries are intermingled.
- Some Resetera users are reporting flickering textures on some N64 games.
RetroArch
It's coming, most probably! Unless the App Store review process gets in the way (or some development stumbles), one of the RetroArch devs confirmed on Reddit that they are working on it. Once this is confirmed and we have an idea of how it will work, I will update this thread accordingly.
About Just-In-Time Compilation (JIT)
Those hoping for Dolphin or other more powerful consoles to be emulated in the near future may need to temper their expectations. In iOS 14.2, Apple enabled Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation, which is what it sounds like - a method of compiling code at runtime rather than in advance. This technique allowed things such as DolphiniOS to get up-and-running, as emulation of newer machines on multi-system apps such as Providence. Unfortunately, though, App Store apps are not allowed to include JIT - it is only available in sideloaded apps. It's unclear why Apple added it but not for App Store apps; presumably for assistance in debugging and testing.
Apps from the original AltStore (not the PAL version) can use JIT when the device is on the same network as a device running AltServer - and whilst this is a neat little thing to play with and test, it's not really practical to use your phone as an emulation device in the long-term. Maybe Apple will change their guidelines, or maybe there's another way around this - but for now, I wouldn't hold your breath!
Update:
Dolphin isn't coming to the App Store
DolphiniOS developer OatmealDome has confirmed they cannot release DolphiniOS essentially due to the JIT stuff I detailed above. You can find out more (and a much better, more technical explanation of JIT) on their blog post confirming the news here.
What else?
- Some of you may still have iGBA installed on your device, but it was pulled from the app store for breach of their spam rules. The app was essentially based on the original version of delta, GBA4iOS, and the developer took umbrage with this due to the fact that this quick turnaround version was filled with ads.
- Another pulled app - this time by the developer - is Bimmy.They got scared (potentially due to Nintendo's recent litigiousness?), though confirmed they weren't pressured to take it down.
- Emu64 XL - is a Commodore 64 emulator - not much else to say except it works but isn't a great experience. It's still available.
- It has been confirmed by the developer that Saturn emulator Yaba Sanshiro has been submitted to the App Store.
- A potentially faster fork of Delta called Ignited has reportedly been submitted for review.
- PPSSPP has also reportedly been submitted for review, but I can't find a source for this and the non-App Store iOS version isn't very mature.
- Folium is probably coming soon as is currently available in Testflight - this includes 3DS emulation.
- Another emulator currently on the AltStore, Provenance, is going to be submited for release. (Thanks to ezidro3 for the head's up).
This is my first real OT so appreciate any feedback/collaboration and updates. Will try my best to keep up to date.
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