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

Apple has 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 sketchy software: you can get a fancy emulator in the palm of your hand for free on the App Store.

No one is more vindicated by this change in Apple’s policy than Riley Testut, the developer who created GBA4iOS 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 load the app through a loophole, and eventually, Apple figured it out and spoiled our fun. By fall 2014, GBA4iOS was dead. RIP.

So why this change of heart now, almost ten years later? This is likely a mixture of pressure from changing laws in the European Union, as well as increasing pressure on Apple to at least to try stop acting like a monopoly. Today, Testut finally released a Game Boy emulator directly into the iOS App Store, where it has already risen to the top spot 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 finally want to play Pokémon on your iPhone, here’s what you need to do.

• Download Delta. No jailbreak! No side loading! It’s ultimately just a normal application!
• Now how to get games? This is where it gets tricky. If you’re a fan of Paladin rules, you can use a tool like Epilogue’s GB Operator, which can extract .ROM files directly from Game Boy games you already own.
• But maybe you don’t have the Pokémon Emerald cartridge your parents bought you when you were nine. Although downloading an emulator like Delta is not illegal, downloading .ROM files can be considered piracy, which is not a practice 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’ve legally obtained your .ROM file, how do you get it on your phone? You can put it on Google Drive and add it to your iPhone’s file folder, you can email it to yourself and download it… Basically, you just want to do what’s easiest for you to get this coveted .GBA file at your fingertips.
• Note that only certain file types are supported by GBA4iOS. If you have your game in a .ZIP or .7Z file, you need to unzip it first. I used the iZip app – also free on the App Store – but this sort of thing is usually easier if you just download it to your computer.
• Now when you open Delta, you will see a plus sign in the upper right corner. From there you can import your games from iTunes or your files folder.
• It’s 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’ll probably want to apply the patches on a real computer). If you’re tired of Pokémon Ruby, why not try Pokémon Emerald Rogue? Now that Delta is in the App Store, the world is your Cloyster.