Apple’s recent decision to allow game emulators on the App Store quickly changed as one of the earliest popular Game Boy emulators, the iGBA, was pulled due to copyright infringement and spam. The iGBA, advertised as one of the first Game Boy emulators approved by Apple, was labeled as a copy of another emulator according to Apple. Riley Testut, the developer behind the well-known Game Boy emulator GBA4IOS, has revealed that the iGBA appears to be a clone of his decade-old emulator.
“Allegedly, Apple has approved a knockoff of GBA4iOS — the Delta predecessor I made in high school — in the App Store,” Testut said in Threads Saturday. “I didn’t give anyone permission to do this, but now it’s at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads + tracking).” Testut expressed his appreciation for Apple’s app review process in handling such cases. Reports indicate that iGBA has violated Sections 4.3 and 5.2 of Apple’s App Review Guidelines, which relate to spam and infringement of intellectual property rights. While it remains unclear whether the iGBA was specifically recalled for copying Testut’s open-source emulator, the iGBA developer later apologized to Testut.
Apple’s move to allow retro game emulator apps on April 5 was part of an update to comply with the European Commission’s anti-management guidelines. While retro game emulators are now allowed worldwide, Apple has emphasized the importance of originality, disallowing apps that are copies of existing emulators. Despite its initial popularity, the iGBA has faced removal from the App Store, while Emu64XL, a Commodore 64 emulator, remains available for download. Although some game emulators have appeared on the App Store before, this is the first time that they have been specifically approved by Apple. However, fans hoping to enjoy Game Boy games on their iPhones may have to wait a little longer as Apple navigates the landscape of emulator apps on its platform.
