testut

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator from App Store for Violating Rules, But Stands by Decision to Permit Game Emulators

Screenshot 2024 04 15 At 1.23.29 pm
Apple has removed iGBA, a Game Boy emulator app for the iPhone, after approving its launch over the weekend. 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. 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.

“Experience an Exclusive App Store in the EU with The AltStore’s Patreon-Powered Selection”

Altstore
As a result, we’re beginning to see what an app store ecosystem could look like when other developers are allowed to compete with the default iPhone App Store. One notable case in point is the AltStore, an alternative app store that’s preparing to take advantage of the DMA to launch an updated version of its app marketplace in the EU, with plans to support Patreon-backed apps. To comply with the new European law, Apple is introducing APIs and frameworks that allow developers to distribute apps independently of the App Store. “It all works virtually the same as the App Store now,” Testut says. In the screenshots he shared, the AltStore looks much like a modern-day app store, with categories like Games, Lifestyle and Utilities, as well as buttons to download its free apps, as on Apple’s App Store.

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