Another day, another great emulator that makes its way into the Apple Store for more users to enjoy. With Apple opening its store up to videogame emulators earlier this year, emulators didn't take long to start appearing into the official store, with the Delta emulator being the first one to pop up, and the PS1 emulator Gamma following up just a few days ago, and with the portability of emulator being a key factor, it was only a matter of time before we could start seeing more heavy-hitters in the emulation scene appear in the Apple Store.

The latest frontend for emulators to appear in it is none other than the famous RetroArch that operates with files called "cores", which are the emulators themselves, and users can switch between cores to select which device to emulate, be it from the old days of computer gaming from the 70s/80s, all the way up to games from a decade or-so go, including Colecovision, Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis, PS1, N64, Game Boy and its variants, and many, many more. Not only does it offer cores for a wide variety of consoles, but it also offers options when it comes to what emulators to use for each console, like using VBA or mGBA for Game Boy Advance titles.

Users can also expect the usual features from such an emulation application, like native saves, save states, controller configurations and controller support, shaders, fast forward/rewind, cheats and netplay, to name a few, and RetroArch also has compatibility with RetroAchievements, which is a fan-made achievements system for everything retro-games.

Apple users can now download and install RetroArch through the official Apple Store, requiring iOS version 14.2 and above in order to play.

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[DragonMals]

Everything is finally complete.

 

[x65943]

Admittedly as a long time android user this does kinda put a dent in one of the reasons I have never owned an iPhone

Still wouldn't consider it given the other apps that are locked out, but a step in the right direction. Maybe one day it will actually be free and open and the ecosystem will be less toxic

 

[DragonMals]

Admittedly as a long time android user this does kinda put a dent in one of the reasons I have never owned an iPhone

Still wouldn't consider it given the other apps that are locked out, but a step in the right direction. Maybe one day it will actually be free and open and the ecosystem will be less toxic

I really want to know how and why Apple made this decision to add emulators all of a sudden.

 

[SecureBoot]

I really want to know how and why Apple made this decision to add emulators all of a sudden.

Likely to cover their asses with all the consumer protections laws being passed/enforced in the EU. If they make it look like they're playing nicely in the US, they may be able to avoid stricter regulation here

 

[andersoncardoso]

Urgh!

 

[Keylogger]

Finally Mario 64 and Zelda OOT on my iPhone

 

[slaphappygamer]

Bios included in IAP when?

 

[SDA]

The classic is now playable on iOS.

 

[Rune]

I know it sounds greedy but I was starting to really like the Delta UI with all the box art.
I wish Retroarch had something similar.

I guess I'll have to wait for Provenance emulator.

 

[Bladexdsl]

welcome to the game apple only took you 20 years!

 

[a_username_that_is_cool]

i JUST installed a jailbreak on my old phone to get retroarch then I see this

 

[The Catboy]

I really hope these also work properly on iPadOS. The fact that there’s literally the same MacBook hardware in the iPad, while limiting it to closed-off mobile apps is unacceptable

 

[DTApple]

FINALLY

 

[slaphappygamer]

The classic is now playable on iOS.

16bit graphics never looked better than in 420p @200hz

 

[LoggerMan]

What about Provenance, any reason why it can't be in the App Store in its current state?

 

[mister_smang_n_watch]

PPSSPP is also on the iOS store now too.

 

[nl255]

Admittedly as a long time android user this does kinda put a dent in one of the reasons I have never owned an iPhone

Still wouldn't consider it given the other apps that are locked out, but a step in the right direction. Maybe one day it will actually be free and open and the ecosystem will be less toxic

Don't forget that JIT/dynarec is still not allowed so forget about any of the more powerful systems like NDS, PS1 and above.

 

[x65943]

Don't forget that JIT/dynarec is still not allowed so forget about any of the more powerful systems like NDS, PS1 and above.

Apple is probably afraid people will play switch on their iphones

 

[Nincompoopdo]

I don't know why people are excited for emulators on iPhone. There are so many cheap emulator handhelds you can buy - they are more fun and easier to play than on a touchscreen.