Apple has removed iGBA, the Game Boy emulator app for the iPhone, after approving it for release last weekend. The app was one of the first to take advantage of Apple's newly relaxed rules regarding retro game emulators, with EU regulators forcing Apple to offer game emulators and other Patreon-like products like AltStore. The move comes after the tech giant forced its App Store to open up to competitors. Provide iPhone users with backed up apps.
First unveiled on Sunday, iGBA was an ad-supported copy of GBA4iOS, an open source project that provides a Game Boy game emulator for iOS. The new app works as described, allowing users to download both Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color ROMs from the web, open them in the app, and play them.
However, the app was submitted to the App Store without permission from GBA4iOS developer Riley Testut. Riley Testut is a Nintendo emulator and he also developed AltStore and Delta, the popular successors to GBA4iOS.
In a post on Sunday's Threads, Testut is angry at Apple for approving iGBA while his app Delta, currently included in Apple's TestFlight, is preparing to launch on March 5th. He said there was. He also said that he was not thrilled that his work was discontinued and he monetized it this way.
Posted by @rileytestut
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“I didn't give anyone permission and now it's sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads and tracking),” Testut said on Threads. “I've bitten my tongue so many times over the past month…but this is really frustrating. I'm so glad App Review exists to protect consumers from scams and rip-offs like this. I think so,” he added sarcastically.
As some have pointed out, the copycat version used the same code as GBA4iOS. However, as others have pointed out, the GBA4iOS emulator is distributed under the GNU GPL v2 license, which should have allowed copying. Except for the fact that Testut added a custom restriction that prohibits distribution of works containing the code on his App Store. They argued that such restrictions are not technically permitted under GPL v2.
Nevertheless, Apple ruled that the counterfeit app should be removed for violating the App Store's guidelines on spam and copyright (Rules 4.3 and 5.2, respectively), also repeating its previous mistakes. Regardless, I basically sided with Testut on this issue.
Posted by @kche1gamer
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Apple told TechCrunch that while the app's functionality had been approved, it learned that the app copied another developer's submission and passed it off as its own, and acted in accordance with its guidelines.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is being forced to make its App Store more open thanks to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Following updates to the App Store rules to comply with new regulations, Apple announced that streaming game stores will also be allowed worldwide. However, additional support for retro game emulators wasn't added until this month, with the caveat that if a game offers downloads of digital items, in-app purchases must be used. This could create a new revenue stream for Apple, but the iGBA app was free and had ads, so removing it would not hurt Apple's revenue.