Apple’s recent decision to allow game emulators in the App Store came quickly after one of the earliest and most popular Game Boy emulators, iGBA, was discontinued due to copyright and spam violations. According to Apple, iGBA was touted as one of Apple’s first approved Game Boy emulators, but it was flagged as a copy of another emulator. Riley Testut, developer of the famous Game Boy emulator GBA4IOS, has revealed that iGBA appears to be a clone of his 10-year-old emulator.
“Apparently Apple has approved a copy of GBA4iOS, the predecessor to Delta I created in high school, to be published in the App Store,” Testut shared on Threads on Saturday. “I didn’t give anyone permission and now I’m sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads and tracking).” He expressed his appreciation for Apple’s app review process. According to the report, iGBA violated sections 4.3 and 5.2 of his Apple app review guidelines regarding spam and intellectual property infringement. It is unclear whether iGBA was specifically removed to copy his Testut open source his emulator, but iGBA’s developer later issued an apology for his Testut.
Apple allowed retro game emulator apps on April 5 as part of an update to comply with the European Commission’s anti-steering guidelines. Retro game emulators are now allowed worldwide, but Apple emphasizes the importance of originality and does not allow apps that copy existing emulators. Despite its initial popularity, iGBA ended up being removed from the App Store, but his Emu64XL, a Commodore 64 emulator, is still available for download. Several game emulators have appeared on the App Store before, but this is the first time Apple has explicitly approved them. However, fans who want to enjoy Game Boy games on their iPhone may have to wait a little longer as Apple navigates the world of emulator apps on the platform.
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