For about as long as anyone can remember , multitude have been trying to use the impressive big businessman and always - in - your - scoop trait of iPhones to run games for old consoles like GameBoy . emulate the function of the cow chip in sometime console is perfectly legal , but distributing the games themselves ( normally called “ ROMs ” ) is often not as they are protect by copyright .
Apple has never allowed these apps in the App Store , though . So those making retro console table aper for iPhone have had to make their apps uncommitted via sideloading on jailbroken iPhones ( a giving security risk , and progressively difficult besides ) or sometimes even by hide their emulator within an innocuous app like a calculator .
young changes to theApp Store Review Guidelinesmay convert all that . reply to regulatory pressure , Apple is transfer some of its rules around what is provide and what is n’t . In the EU , music streaming service will be able-bodied to include a link to an extraneous website to make purchase / subscriptions . But worldwide , one can now print retro game emulators to the App Store .
incision 4.7 of the App Review Guidelines now take :
4.7 Mini apps , mini games , streaming games , chatbots , nag - ins , and game emulators
Apps may extend certain software that is not embedded in the binary , specifically HTML5 mini apps and mini game , streaming games , chatbots , and plug - ins . to boot , retro game console table emulator apps can offer to download game .
There are some caveats , of course of action . Any game that an emulator app reach usable to download must follow “ all applicable laws , ” which intend it can only provide entree topublic domain ROMsor those that have been licensed for dispersion . Apple requires emulator to carry the age rating of the highest - rated content in the app , the apps have to have a method of filtering and reporting objectionable content , and they have to follow all the other rules around information concealment , exposing native APIs to the emulated software package , and so on .
It is unclear if it will be potential for a retro game aper app to allow users to load up a ROM that they have stack away on their iPhone ’s internal memory or in a cloud storage service . There does n’t appear to be a effectual barricade to this form of affair – metier apps on the app computer memory canplayillegally gain MP4s just fine , they just ca n’t ply any way to find or download them .
The rule alteration is just a few days sure-enough , so we have n’t yet see new emulators in the depot to essay . Since a cottage industry of retro game emulation for jailbroken iPhones or thing likeAltStore , already exists , we probably wo n’t have to wait long .
