Over the weekend, a Recreation Boy emulator named iGBA appeared in the iPhone’s App Store, however Apple shortly eliminated the app resulting from violations of the company’s App Review Guidelines related to spam and copyright. Apple has since shared further particulars about why it eliminated iGBA from the App Retailer, and it additionally clarified its pointers for emulators.
iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut’s open-source GBA4iOS app, with the addition of advertisements on high. Whereas it didn’t explicitly identify GBA4iOS, Apple advised us it eliminated iGBA from the App Retailer after studying that it was a knockoff app that copied one other developer’s work and tried to cross it off as its personal.
Notably, Apple confirmed to us that emulators on the App Retailer are permitted to load ROMs downloaded from the net, as long as the app is emulating retro console video games solely. Apple additionally stated it had authorised iGBA’s performance, earlier than studying that it was a knockoff app, suggesting that Recreation Boy emulation is permitted on the App Retailer, however the firm has but to share every other examples of retro recreation consoles.
All in all, it seems that iGBA was faraway from the App Retailer completely as a result of it was a ripoff of GBA4iOS, reasonably than resulting from piracy issues ensuing from customers with the ability to load any ROM downloaded from the net. Nonetheless, precisely which consoles Apple considers to be retro, and if there shall be every other restrictions, stays to be seen.
It additionally stays to be seen how Nintendo reacts to Apple approving Recreation Boy emulators for distribution by the App Retailer on the iPhone. On its U.S. customer support website, Nintendo says downloading pirated copies of its video games is illegitimate:
Pirate copies of recreation information are sometimes called “ROMs”.
The importing and downloading of pirate copies of Nintendo video games is illegitimate.
We’ve reached out to Nintendo for remark.
Apple up to date its App Overview Tips to permit retro game console emulators earlier this month. Apple says builders of emulators are “answerable for all such software program” supplied within the app, together with compliance with “all relevant legal guidelines.”
