From Digital Age to Nano Age. WorldWide.

Tag: app-store

Atoms Lanka Solutions > app-store
Robotic Automations

10 years in the making, retro game emulator Delta is now No. 1 on the iOS charts | TechCrunch

May 4, 2024 4:36 AM0


Video game emulator Delta’s decade-long struggle against the iOS App Store began with a school-issued TI-84 calculator.

When Riley Testut was a sophomore in high school, he showed his friends how to load illicit software onto their bulky graphing calculators. Such behavior was generally discouraged at school, but he wasn’t plotting to cheat on a test. He was simply traversing the Viridian Forest, surfing across the Kanto seas and collecting gym badges.

“The teachers didn’t think we were playing Pokémon,” Testut told TechCrunch. “They were just like, ‘Why is everyone so into their calculators?’”

By 2014, when Testut was a high school senior, the only way to install a retro video game emulator on an iOS device was to jailbreak it. But Testut didn’t want to damage his then-state-of-the-art iPhone 4. So, he spent months building an app that would let him play GBA games on his phone without voiding its warranty. That app became GBA4iOS.

Millions of people swarmed to GBA4iOS, reveling in the glorious experience of playing Game Boy titles on a palm-sized phone. Even Time Magazine wrote about it. But GBA4iOS was too successful for its own good and, soon, Testut had to face an adversary more formidable than Team Rocket: Eight months after the app’s release, Apple patched the loophole that made GBA4iOS possible, quashing his app in the process.

“For a brief, glorious, few months, you had experienced what it was like to make an app that was used by millions — despite it being one that by all accounts ‘shouldn’t exist,’” Testut explained in a recent blog post, reflecting on his experience over the last decade. “You knew you were living on borrowed time, but it just felt wrong that an app this popular can never exist on iOS.”

“The Pokémon broke free!”

Video game emulation is complex to pull off, but it’s simple for the users. You download an emulator — usually open source, like ePSXe for PlayStation titles, or OpenEmu, which can emulate a bunch of consoles — and then get games to play on it.

But that’s where the issue lies: Finding a software copy of games, usually housed in a .ROM file, to use with these emulators is not as easy as buying games on the Nintendo eShop. You can buy hardware to legally extract the game file from old video game cartridges or discs that you own, but an easier way to play really old games is to just download their .ROM files for free from the internet — that’s basically piracy.

Downloading an app like Delta has never been illegal, but downloading the game files you need to play can be.

Given his prior experience, Testut was shocked when Apple changed its rules around emulators a few weeks ago. He uploaded Delta, a more refined version of GBA4iOS, and suddenly, he became the developer behind the No. 1 app on the App Store. Two weeks after release, Delta is still topping the charts of entertainment apps and holds the second spot on the free apps charts. According to app intelligence company Appfigures, Delta has been downloaded about 3.8 million times in two weeks.

“It’s surreal how good the reception has been, and how many people are playing it,” he said. “This is the app I’ve been working on for 10 years.”

Testut hadn’t just been a sitting Psyduck since GBA4iOS faded away a decade ago. He went to the University of Southern California to study computer science. Soon after, he happened to attend a Super Smash Bros. players meetup, where he crossed paths with Shane Gill, an engineering student who has now been his roommate for nine years and his business partner for five. They even have the same birthday.

Of course, Gill had also used GBA4iOS in high school, and he was excited to find out that his new friend was behind the app. He shared Testut’s drive to give app developers the freedom to access an audience without Apple as a middleman.

“There are more people like Riley and just so many developers that make these really cool things,” Gill told TechCrunch. “And just because it’s an iPhone, they can’t share it the same way.”

Emboldened by his experiences as a teenage developer, Testut teamed up with Gill in 2019 and launched AltStore, an app store designed for sideloading apps onto iOS devices. For most of its existence, AltStore was only usable on Windows and MacOS, but due to changing regulations in the European Union, it now has a legitimate way to become available on iPhones, as Apple was forced to allow iOS users in the EU to download apps from outside of the App Store.

So why did Apple just change its stance on emulator apps so suddenly? Apple did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. It could have something to do with increased regulatory pressure on Apple, as it was recently sued by the U.S. Department of Justice over antitrust concerns. And according to Testut, it’s a bit too convenient that just as AltStore launched on iOS in the EU, Apple made a small carve-out in its rules to allow Delta to exist.

“Even if the DOJ hadn’t started this [antitrust lawsuit], I think Apple would have done the same thing of allowing emulators in the App Store worldwide,” Testut said. “They just couldn’t have that narrative that the coolest app on iPhone is only in Europe, thanks to European regulators.”

Running an app business without a middleman

When Gill joined Testut to work on AltStore, he encouraged Testut to set up a Patreon so he could stop taking odd jobs to pay the bills. Now, AltStore’s Patreon earns over $13,000 per month (up from about $10,000 at the beginning of April). In exchange for their monthly contributions, AltStore’s patrons get access to early app betas, like Delta’s test of iPad and SEGA Genesis support, as well as access to a community Discord.

Delta is a free app, so these millions of app downloads aren’t lining the devs’ pockets. Still, Testut and Gill don’t plan to change their monetization model.

“In the App Store, you don’t get this. You don’t have this relationship with your customers. … It’s way more bureaucratic and not personal,” Testut said. “I’m very excited to show that consumers can have a close relationship with developers. I think it works better that way, because we can have Delta be completely free without any paywalls in it, and people can still get access to cool new features early by just donating to us.”

Testut’s vision is pretty emblematic of the game emulation community. At a time when it’s difficult to truly own any of the software you subscribe to, or use, no matter how much money you’ve paid over the years, the effort here isn’t just about reliving childhood gaming memories. It’s archival.

Often, the only way to preserve a 40-year-old game is to rip the software from the old cartridge and build an emulator that can run it, and that’s true for more software than just games.

“This is art that existed 40 years ago. Developers don’t own the IP anymore, and there’s no way to share it with people,” Gill said. “So unless somebody puts it out in some form, it’ll just be lost to time. That’s something that I think is a bit tragic.”

Thanks to Testut and Gill, it’s never been easier to play retro video games for people who don’t want to step beyond the bounds of what Apple deems legal on iPhones. And it’s all because the company just slightly tweaked its developer guidelines. If just one change to App Store policy can unlock a new No. 1 app, what else have we missed out on?

“This was way bigger than we could have ever hoped for, honestly,” said Testut. “Being able to put Delta in the App Store has just made our message so obvious. We’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to make apps that haven’t been able to exist before,’ and then the second Apple allows it, we’re in the App Store and we’re the number one app.”

Apple will soon let users in the EU download apps through web sites, not just the App Store




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

How to play Pokémon and other Game Boy games on your iPhone | TechCrunch

May 4, 2024 4:12 AM0


Apple finally updated its App Store guidelines to allow global developers to host retro game emulators on iOS. Now, you don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone or download any sketchy software — you can get a sophisticated emulator right in the palm of your hand for free on the App Store.

No one is more vindicated by this shift in Apple’s policy than Riley Testut, the developer who made GBA4iOS about a decade ago when he was in high school (when he released GBA4iOS, I showed half of my AP Statistics class how to play Pokémon on their phones during class — sorry, Mr. Cinelli). But back then, you had to sideload the app through a loophole, and eventually, Apple caught on and ruined our fun. By fall 2014, GBA4iOS was dead. RIP.

But things have changed a lot since 2014, and since its launch, Delta has been downloaded 3.8 million times, and two weeks after its launch, it’s still topping the app store charts.

“It’s surreal how good the reception has been, and how many people are playing it,” he said in an interview with TechCrunch detailing the app’s history and development. “This is the app I’ve been working on for 10 years.”

So why the change of heart now, almost 10 years later? It’s probably a mixture of pressure from changing laws in the European Union, as well as increasing pressure for Apple to at least try to stop acting like a monopoly. Now, at long last, Testut has released a Game Boy emulator directly into the iOS App Store, where it has already climbed to No. 1 on the entertainment charts, as well as the free app charts generally. Delta, the emulator, even supports DS, N64, SNES and NES games, in addition to Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games.

If you want to finally play Pokémon on your iPhone, here’s what you need to do:

  • Download Delta. No jailbreaking! No sideloading! It’s finally just a normal app!
  • Now, how do you get games? This is where it gets tricky. If you’re a Paladin-esque rule follower, you can use a tool like Epilogue’s GB Operator, which can rip .ROM files directly from the Game Boy games that you already own.
  • But maybe you don’t have the Pokémon Emerald cartridge that your parents bought for you when you were nine years old. While downloading an emulator like Delta is not illegal, downloading .ROM files can be considered piracy, which is not a practice that we condone.
  • On a completely unrelated note: You know how sometimes when you have a question, you search for related communities on Reddit that might help you answer that question?
  • So, now that you have legally obtained your .ROM file, how do you get it onto your phone? You can put it on Google Drive and add it to your iPhone’s files folder, you can email it to yourself and download it… basically you just want to do whatever is easiest for you to get that coveted .GBA file at your fingertips.
  • Note that only certain file types are supported by GBA4iOS. If you got your game in a .ZIP or .7Z file, you need to actually unzip it first. I used the iZip app — also free in the App Store — but this sort of thing is generally more straightforward if you just download it on your computer.
  • Now, when you open Delta, you’ll see a plus sign in the upper-right corner. From there, you can import your games from iTunes or your files folder.
  • Time to party!

Maybe you just want to play a classic game from your youth. But don’t sleep on ROM hacking communities, which have been modding retro games for decades. These developers can create professional-quality patches for your .ROM files that transport you into completely new games (but you probably want to do the patching on an actual computer). If you’re bored of Pokémon Ruby, why not try Pokémon Emerald Rogue? Now that Delta is in the App Store, the world is your Cloyster.

Apple changes App Store rules to allow retro game emulators globally

Apple pulls a Game Boy emulator for App Store violations, but says game emulators are allowed




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Instagram now lets you post a secret Story that viewers can uncover with a DM | TechCrunch

May 4, 2024 12:11 AM0


Instagram is adding a handful of new features for Stories to give users more creative ways to share content and engage with each other, the company announced on Friday. Most notably, the social network is introducing a new “Reveal” feature that lets you post a hidden Story for your followers to uncover by sending you a DM. Instagram is also launching other features that let you share your favorite songs and highlight memories via Stories.

To access to the new Reveal feature you have to tap the stickers icon when creating a Story and the select the “Reveal” option. From there, you will be prompted to type out a hint about your blurred story. Once you post your Story, your friends will only be able to see your Story content if they send you a DM..

Image Credits: Instagram

While the feature could be a nice way to start a conversation with a friend, Reveal is especially useful for creators, as it would allow them to get more engagement for their Stories. Instagram notes that you won’t need to approve every DM for your Story to be revealed, so creators won’t have to worry about getting though thousands of DMs.

Instagram is also launching a new “Add Yours Music” sticker for Stories that lets users share a song that fits their mood while encouraging their followers to share a song as well. The feature builds on Instagram’s “Add yours” sticker that allows users to respond to other users’ Stories with their own following a prompt or a certain topic.

Image Credits: Instagram

In addition, users are getting access to a new “Frames” feature that turns a photo into a virtual polaroid that users can view by shaking their phone (if you don’t want to shake your phone, you can click the “shake to reveal button”). While Stories are traditionally used to share content about what you’re currently doing, this new feature is designed for more of a throwback post.

Once you select an image to feature, the Frames sticker will automatically add the date and timestamp of when the photo was taken. You can also choose to add a caption on the virtual polaroid.

Image Credits: Instagram

Another new feature called “Cutouts” will let users turn part of any video or photo in their camera roll into a custom sticker that they can add to a Story or Reel. The feature is similar to Apple’s image cutout tool, which lets you “pick up” an object from a photo or a video with just a press of your finger.

The launch of the new features comes as Instagram announced on Tuesday that it’s introducing a few new changes to its ranking systems to better highlight content from smaller, original creators. As part of the changes, Instagram is replacing reposts with original content in recommendations, adding labels to reposted content and removing content aggregators from recommendations. The announcement followed months of criticism from creators’ who said their reach has been negatively impacted by the algorithm.

Instagram is updating its algorithm to surface more content from smaller, original creators


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Screenshots suggest TikTok is circumventing Apple App Store commissions | TechCrunch

May 1, 2024 1:18 AM0


TikTok may be routing around the App Store to save money on commissions. According to new findings, the ByteDance-owned social video app is presenting some of its users with a link to a website for purchasing the coins used for tipping digital creators. Typically, these coins are bought via in-app purchase, which requires a 30% commission paid to Apple.

The feature may be hidden from most users, either by design or because it’s only shown to users in a specific group, like testers or high spenders. In any event, those who do have access to the new option are seeing a screen that encourages them to “recharge” — that is, buy more coins — via tiktok.com. Although these screenshots were discovered within the iOS app by TechCrunch tipster, David Tesler, it’s not clear how many TikTok users are seeing them or when or how they’re being shown.

Tesler says the option to purchase via the web was displayed to an account that had previously purchased a large amount of coins.

Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app

In some cases, users are shown a screen that includes a message such as “Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees” followed by a “Try now” link. Other times, they may get a pop-up that says “Try recharging on tiktok.com” with another message about the potential savings. This one reads, “You can save the service fee and get access to popular payment methods,” and is followed by a big, red “Try now” button or a less prominent option that says “Don’t show again.”

Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app

Users who follow the provided link are taken to the website for buying coins: tiktok.com/coin. From this web view, they can pay using a variety of methods, including Apple Pay or debit or credit cards. The website reminds users that purchases made directly with TikTok will save them around 25% “with a lower third-party service fee.”

On the web, users can purchase packs of coins ranging from 70 coins to 17,500 coins, or even enter a custom (higher) amount. Inside the app, however, coin packs are available starting at 20 coins up to 16,500 with no option for a custom amount.

Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok app

That could suggest TikTok is only showing the web links to those users who typically buy larger packs of coins at one time.

While Apple did begin to allow developers of select apps to add links to their websites from inside the app back in 2022, the use case was limited. The only apps that qualify to offer these lines for “account management” are what Apple calls “reader” apps — or those apps that provide access to paid digital content as their main functionality. (Think: Netflix, not Facebook.) In addition, apps that choose to use the External Link Entitlement cannot offer in-app purchases via the App Store as well. It’s an either/or situation.

Typical IAP flow. Image Credits: Screenshot from TikTok iOS app

Given that TikTok is also offering most of its users the option to buy via in-app purchases, it seems it’s not abiding by the External Link Entitlement rules even if it had been granted the exception (which would be surprising.)

TikTok and Apple have not returned requests for comment at this time.

Tesler noted that when Fortnite inserted an option that routed users around Apple’s in-app purchases, ahead of filing its antitrust lawsuit against the company, Apple banned the app from the App Store. It’s unclear what, if any, action Apple will take against TikTok now, given the current politics around the Beijing-based app.

TikTok’s current U.S. fate is uncertain, as a bill to ban the app has now been signed into law by President Biden. However, the company said it plans to fight the ban in court, as it did before under President Trump. Biden had originally put the effort to ban the app on hold until a new bipartisan bill passed both the House and Senate.




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Despite complaints, Apple hasn't yet removed an obviously fake app pretending to be RockAuto | TechCrunch

April 26, 2024 10:49 PM0


Apple’s App Store isn’t always as trustworthy as the company claims. The latest example comes from RockAuto, an auto parts dealer popular with home mechanics and other DIYers, which is upset that a fake app masquerading as its official app has not been removed from the App Store, despite numerous complaints to Apple.

RockAuto co-founder and president Jim Taylor was first alerted to the situation when customers began complaining about “annoying ads” in its app — something he said “surprised us since we don’t have an app.”

Fake RockAuto app on the App Store. Image Credits: Apple (screen capture by TechCrunch)

“We discovered someone placed an app in the Apple App Store using our logo and company information — but with the misspellings and clumsy graphics typical of phishing schemes,” he told TechCrunch.

On closer inspection, the fake app doesn’t look very legit, but it’s easy to see how someone could be fooled. Its App Store images show a photo of a truck with the word “Heading” across the image as if a template was hastily used and the work was unfinished. In addition, despite being titled “RockAuto” on the App Store, the app refers to itself as “RackAuto” throughout its App Store description.

What’s more, it promises customers that “Your privacy is a top priority” and that “all your data is securely stored and encrypted, giving you peace of mind.” That’s not likely, given the nature of this app.

The issue is not only concerning because of the app’s ability to fool at least some portion of RockAuto’s customers but also because it undermines Apple’s messaging about how the App Store is a trusted and secure marketplace — which is why it demands a cut of developers’ in-app purchase transactions. The tech giant has been fighting back against regulations like the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), by claiming these laws would compromise customer safety and privacy. Apple believes that customers will be at risk if they conduct business outside its App Store with unknown parties. But, as these cases show, bad actors can too easily infiltrate its own app marketplace as well.

Image Credits: Fake RockAuto app on the App Store. Image Credits: Apple (screen capture by TechCrunch)

Apple has so far ignored RockAuto’s requests to remove the fake app, which were all sent through proper channels, according to documentation the company shared with TechCrunch.

While searching for a solution to this problem, RockAuto came across our coverage of a similar situation with LastPass. The password manager was also the victim of a similar scheme when a fake app pretending to be LastPass was live on the App Store for weeks. LastPass eventually had to warn its customers publicly in a blog post, as Apple had not yet taken the fake app down until after the press coverage and LastPass’s own post went live.

Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment at the time. The company wasn’t immediately available for requests for comment about RockAuto’s complaint either.

Apple pulled a fake app masquerading as password manager LastPass from the App Store

Taylor says that RockAuto’s Customer Service manager initially reached out to Apple to resolve the situation. When he didn’t get a response, Taylor got involved.

“It’s mostly one-way since the only replies we’ve had from Apple are ‘you shouldn’t have emailed, go use the online form’ and ‘upload screen prints of the app store listing and your trademark registration,’” Taylor explains, both of which RockAuto had already done, its documentation indicates.

“Neither the uploaded documents nor the online form submissions produced any response at all,” Taylor noted, “not even the promised ‘case number in 24 hours’ despite multiple submissions,” he said.

Since filing the complaint on April 18, 2024, RockAuto has shared its trademark registration with Apple, emailed the company, called the number provided on Apple’s copyright infringement page, sent a DMCA Takedown request and filled out Apple’s required forms.

It has not received anything other than automated responses and the fake app remains live as of the time of publication.

Apple’s reluctant, punitive compliance with regulators will burn its political and developer goodwill


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Despite complaints, Apple hasn't yet removed an obviously fake app pretending to be RockAuto | TechCrunch

April 26, 2024 8:49 PM0


Apple’s App Store isn’t always as trustworthy as the company claims. The latest example comes from  RockAuto, an auto parts dealer popular with home mechanics and other DIYers, which is upset that a fake app masquerading as its official app has not been removed from the App Store, despite numerous complaints to Apple.

RockAuto Co-Founder and President Jim Taylor was first alerted to the situation when customers began complaining about “annoying ads” in its app — something he said “surprised us since we don’t have an app.”

“We discovered someone placed an app in the Apple App Store using our logo and company information — but with the misspellings and clumsy graphics typical of phishing schemes,” he told TechCrunch.

On closer inspection, the fake app doesn’t look very legit, but it’s easy to see how someone could be fooled. Its App Store images show a photo of a truck with the word “Heading” across the image as if a template was hastily used and the work was unfinished. In addition, despite being titled “RockAuto” on the App Store, the app refers to itself as “RackAuto” throughout its App Store description.

What’s more, it promises customers that “Your privacy is a top priority” and that “all your data is securely stored and encrypted, giving you peace of mind.” That’s not likely, given the nature of this app.

The issue is not only concerning because of the app’s ability to fool at least some portion of RockAuto’s customers but also because it undermines Apple’s messaging about how the App Store is a trusted and secure marketplace — which is why it demands a cut of developers’ in-app purchase transactions. The tech giant has been fighting back against regulations like the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), by claiming these laws would compromise customer safety and privacy. Apple believes that customers will be at risk if they conduct business outside its

App Store with unknown parties. But, as these cases show, bad actors can too easily infiltrate its own app marketplace as well.

Image Credits: Fake RockAuto app on the App Store

Apple has so far ignored RockAuto’s requests to remove the fake app, which were all sent through proper channels, according to documentation the company shared with TechCrunch.

While searching for a solution to this problem, RockAuto came across our coverage of a similar situation with LastPass. The password manager was also the victim of a similar scheme when a fake app pretending to be LastPass was live on the App Store for weeks. LastPass eventually had to warn its customers publicly in a blog post, as Apple had not yet taken the fake app down until after the press coverage and LastPass’s own post went live.

Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment at the time. The company wasn’t immediately available for requests for comment about RockAuto’s complaint either.

Apple pulled a fake app masquerading as password manager LastPass from the App Store

Taylor says that RockAuto’s Customer Service manager initially reached out to Apple to resolve the situation. When he didn’t get a response, Taylor got involved.

“It’s mostly one-way since the only replies we’ve had from Apple are ‘you shouldn’t have emailed, go use the online form’ and ‘upload screen prints of the app store listing and your trademark registration,’” Taylor explains, both of which RockAuto had already done, its documentation indicates.

“Neither the uploaded documents nor the online form submissions produced any response at all,” Taylor noted, “not even the promised ‘case number in 24 hours’ despite multiple submissions,” he said.

Since filing the complaint on April 18, 2024, RockAuto has shared its trademark registration with Apple, emailed the company, called the number provided on Apple’s copyright infringement page, sent a DMCA Takedown request, and filled out Apple’s required forms.

It has not received anything other than automated responses and the fake app remains live as of the time of publication

Apple’s reluctant, punitive compliance with regulators will burn its political and developer goodwill


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

How to play Pokémon and other Game Boy games on your iPhone | TechCrunch

April 19, 2024 2:07 AM0


Apple finally updated its App Store guidelines to allow global developers to host retro game emulators on iOS. Now, you don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone or download any sketchy software — you can get a sophisticated emulator right in the palm of your hand for free on the App Store.

No one is more vindicated by this shift in Apple’s policy than Riley Testut, the developer who made GBA4iOS about decade ago when he was in high school (when he released GBA4iOS, I showed half of my AP Statistics class how to play Pokémon on their phones during class — sorry, Mr. Cinelli). But back then, you had to sideload the app through a loophole, and eventually, Apple caught on and ruined our fun. By fall 2014, GBA4iOS was dead. RIP.

So why the change of heart now, almost ten years later? It’s probably a mixture of pressure from changing laws in the European Union, as well as increasing pressure for Apple to at least try to stop acting like a monopoly. Now, at long last, Testut has released a Game Boy emulator directly into the iOS App Store, where it’s already climbed to #1 on the entertainment charts. Delta, the emulator, even supports DS, N64, SNES and NES games, in addition to Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games.

If you want to finally play Pokémon on your iPhone, here’s what you need to do.

  • Download Delta. No jailbreaking! No sideloading! It’s finally just a normal app!
  • Now, how do you get games? This is where it gets tricky. If you’re a Paladin-esque rule follower, you can use a tool like Epilogue’s GB Operator, which can rip .ROM files directly from the Game Boy games that you already own.
  • But maybe you don’t have the Pokémon Emerald cartridge that your parents bought for you when you were nine years old. While downloading an emulator like Delta is not illegal, downloading .ROM files can be considered piracy, which is not a practice that we condone.
  • On a completely unrelated note: you know how sometimes when you have a question, you search for related communities on Reddit that might help you answer that question?
  • So, now that you have legally obtained your .ROM file, how do you get it onto your phone? You can put it on Google Drive and add it to your iPhone’s files folder, you can email it to yourself and download it… Basically you just want to do whatever is easiest for you to get that coveted .GBA file at your fingertips.
  • Note that only certain file types are supported by GBA4iOS. If you got your game in a .ZIP or .7Z file, you need to actually unzip it first. I used the iZip app — also free in the App Store — but this sort of thing is generally more straight-forward if you just download it on your computer.
  • Now, when you open up Delta, you’ll see a plus sign in the upper right corner. From there, you can import your games from iTunes or your files folder.
  • Time to party!

Maybe you just want to play a classic game from your youth. But don’t sleep on ROM hacking communities, which have been modding retro games for decades. These developers can create professional-quality patches for your .ROM files that transport you into completely new games (but you probably want to do the patching on an actual computer). If you’re bored of Pokémon Ruby, why not try Pokémon Emerald Rogue? Now that Delta is in the App Store, the world is your Cloyster.

Apple changes App Store rules to allow retro game emulators globally

Apple pulls a Game Boy emulator for App Store violations, but says game emulators are allowed




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Apple pulls a Game Boy emulator for App Store violations, but says game emulators are allowed | TechCrunch

April 15, 2024 11:07 PM0


Apple has removed iGBA, a Game Boy emulator app for the iPhone, after approving its launch over the weekend. The app was among the first to capitalize on Apple’s newly relaxed rules around retro game emulators, a move the tech giant made after EU regulators forced Apple to open up to App Store competitors, like AltStore, which aims to offer game emulators and other Patreon-backed apps to iPhone users.

First launched on Sunday, iGBA was an ad-supported copy of the open-source project GBA4iOS that offered a Game Boy game emulator for iOS. The new app worked as described, allowing users to download both Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color ROMs from the web and then open them in the app to play.

However, the app was submitted to the App Store without the permission of GBA4iOS developer, Riley Testut, who also developed the AltStore and Delta, a Nintendo emulator and popular successor to GBA4iOS.

Testut said in a post on Threads on Sunday that he was angry at Apple for approving iGBA while his own app Delta, currently on Apple’s TestFlight, has been ready to launch since March 5. He was also not thrilled at his work being knocked off and monetized this way.

 

Post by @rileytestut
View on Threads

 

“I did not give anyone permission to do this, yet it’s now sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads + tracking),” Testut said on Threads. “I’ve bit my tongue a bunch in the past month…but this really frustrates me. So glad App Review exists to protect consumers from scams and rip-offs like this,” he added, sarcastically.

As some noted, the knock-off version used the same code as GBA4iOS. But, as others pointed out, the GBA4iOS emulator was distributed under a GNU GPL v2 license, which should have otherwise permitted copies — except for the fact that Testut added a custom restriction to it that prohibited App Store distribution for any work containing the code. They argued that such a restriction was not technically allowed under GPL v2.

Nevertheless, Apple determined that the knock-off app should be removed for violating its App Store guidelines around spam and copyright (rules 4.3 and 5.2, respectively), essentially siding with Testut on the matter, despite its earlier mistake.

 

Post by @kche1gamer
View on Threads

 

Apple told TechCrunch the functionality in the app was approved, but when the company learned that the app was copying another developer’s submission and passing it off as its own, it took action in accordance with its guidelines.

The Cupertino-based tech giant has been pushed to make the App Store more open thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Following an update to its App Store rules to comply with the new regulation, Apple had announced it would also allow streaming game stores globally. But the additional support for retro game emulators wasn’t added until this month, with the caveat that the games must use in-app purchases if they offer downloads of digital items. While that would potentially open another stream of revenue for Apple, the iGBA app was free and ad-supported, so it wasn’t a loss to Apple’s bottom line to remove it.


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Hey is feuding with Apple again — this time over a calendar app | TechCrunch

January 8, 2024 12:52 PM0


Basecamp founders’ email service Hey is fighting with Apple again — this time over the rejection of its new calendar app from the App Store. Apple’s reasoning is similar to when Cupertino-based tech giant rejected Hey’s email app four years ago — non-paying users can’t use the app after downloading it. Plus, new users can’t sign up through Hey’s calendar app.

Last week, Basecamp launched an integrated calendar service with Hey, along with a new standalone app for it. On Saturday, Hey’s co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson posted on X that Apple has rejected Hey’s standalone calendar app.

Apple requires apps to allow users to sign up for the service and possibly pay for the subscription if needed. If users pay through in-app purchases Apple gets a 30% (or less in some cases) cut. These rules allow some apps such as Netflix, Kindle, and Spotify to let users create accounts outside the app.

In 2020, Apple first rejected Hey’s email app because users couldn’t sign up for the service on the app. So both companies came to a compromise where users could download and start using Hey with a randomized email ID. To upgrade, they had to pay for the service through the browser.

In a blog post, Hansson argues that several apps like Google Calendar and Netflix are logins gated with people paying for the service outside Apple’s ecosystem. Additionally, he says that Apple uses one iCloud ID to provide a subscription to a suite of apps. So Hey’s calendar app should be allowed on the App Store.

“So what’s going to happen? I don’t know, but I do know that we’ll keep fighting. We’re never going to roll over and pay Apple 30% in protection money to be left alone. Last time we found a way, and we will again,” he said.

Apple didn’t immediately comment on the story.




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Back
WhatsApp
Messenger
Viber