Yes, you read the headline correctly, after almost a decade of wait Apple is now finally allowing emulators for retro console games on the App Store. Apple’s latest App Review guidelines permit the use of ‘retro game console emulators’.
This means most mainstream emulators will be available on the App Store sooner or later. Users can now play their Games or ROMs natively on their iPhones or iPads without workarounds.
If you have been an active part of the emulation community for a while now then you might know that earlier users had to jailbreak an iPhone and then sideload emulators to play retro games.
In addition to emulators, users will also get the capability of downloading games from within the emulator. However, there are some restrictions.
The new guidelines state that, “You are responsible for all such software offered in your app, including ensuring that such software complies with these Guidelines and all applicable laws.” Here you refer to the developers.
Now you might wonder, Why is this change happening? Well, this is mostly thanks to the recent EU regulations.
Undoubtedly, while playing retro games performance won’t be an issue on any modern iPhone as they are capable enough to run console-quality games like Resident Evil Village.
Some of the mainstream systems that might be playable on iPhone using emulators are Nintendo64, Wii, SNES, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, and many more.
As of lately, Apple has been changing its walled garden. Last year, the iPhone 15 became the first ever iPhone to feature a non-proprietary USB C Port. Furthermore, the company is now also allowing the transfer of data from iPhone to non-apple devices and vice-versa. Apple officially stated that,
“Apple is developing a solution that helps mobile operating system providers develop more user-friendly solutions to transfer data from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone,”
The future of gaming seems bright for iPhone users.