Apple says no to PC emulators on iOS

Apple may finally allow retro video game emulators in the App Store, but this month the company rejected submissions for iDOS 3, a new version of the popular DOS emulator, and UTM SE, an app that allows you to emulate operating systems like Windows on iOS. . In both cases, Apple said the new versions violated Guideline 4.7 of the App Review Guidelines, which is the one that allows retro game emulators.

Chaoji Li, the developer of iDOS 3, shared some of the reasons for Apple’s rejection with The edge. “The application provides emulator functionality but does not specifically emulate a retro gaming console,” according to Apple’s notice. “Only retro game console emulators are suitable under Guideline 4.7.”

“When I asked what changes I needed to make to be compliant, they had no idea, nor when I asked what a retro game console was,” Li said in a blog post. “It’s always the same old unreasonable response of ‘we know it when we see it.’

UTM posted its rejection on UTM SE may be helpful,” according to the post.

UTM also noted that Apple prohibits UTM SE from being notarized for third-party app stores because the app apparently violated guideline 2.5.2. This rule states that applications must be self-contained and cannot execute code “that introduces or modifies features or functionality of the application, including other applications.”

Apple generally does not allow just-in-time (JIT) compilation. However, confusingly, UTM has stated that UTM SE does not include just-in-time compilation. In addition, Apple clarified that guideline 4.7, which allows applications to offer “certain software that is not integrated into the binary”, is “an exception that only applies to applications in the App Store” but does not is not an exception for which UTM SE qualifies, UTM said. in a follow-up article.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in other App Store feuds, developers are at the mercy of Apple’s fickle decisions. “In short, as the only rule creators and enforcers in (the) iOS ecosystem, they don’t need to be consistent at all,” Li said in an email. And UTM said it’s not going to push further to get UTM SE on the App Store because it thinks the app “is a poor experience and not worth fighting for.”

Apple likely opened the door to retro game emulators in April in response to an antitrust investigation, while launching support for third-party app stores in the EU in March so it could comply with marketplace law digital.