Last weekend, a Game Boy emulator named iGBA appeared on the iPhone’s App Store, but Apple quickly removed the app for violating the company’s app review guidelines regarding spam and copyright. Apple has since released additional details about why it removed his iGBA from the App Store, and also clarified its guidelines regarding emulators.
iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut’s open source GBA4iOS app, which had ads added to the top. Without specifying the name GBA4iOS, Apple told us that it learned that iGBA was a copycat app that copied another developer’s work and tried to pass it off as its own app, and removed it from the App Store. .
Specifically, Apple has confirmed that App Store emulators are allowed to load ROMs downloaded from the web, as long as the app only emulates retro console games. Apple also said it approved iGBA’s features before knowing it was a copycat app, and suggested that Game Boy emulation is allowed in the App Store, but the company said it had not approved other examples of retro game consoles. have not been shared yet.
Overall, it appears that iGBA was removed from the App Store because it was a rip-off of GBA4iOS, rather than due to copyright infringement concerns arising from users being able to load ROMs downloaded from the web. However, it remains to be seen which consoles exactly Apple considers retro, and if there are any other restrictions.
It also remains to be seen how Nintendo will react to Apple’s approval to distribute Game Boy emulators through the App Store on iPhones. Nintendo says on its U.S. customer support website that downloading pirated versions of its games is illegal.
Pirated copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs.”
Uploading and downloading pirated versions of Nintendo games is illegal.
We have reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Apple updated its app review guidelines earlier this month to allow emulators of retro gaming consoles. Apple says emulator developers are responsible for “all such software” provided within their apps, including compliance with “all applicable laws.”
