The popular retro-Nintendo emulator, Delta, is now officially available on the App Store. In case you missed it, Apple recently announced that the App Store now allows game emulators for retro game consoles.
The emulators have to follow certain rules, such as not distributing games directly. The news was followed by a couple of emulators launching on the App Store, but they disappeared for different reasons, one app was found to be using stolen code and had many trackers, while the other one, an emulator called Bimmy, was pulled by the developer out of fear. That's not surprising, because emulators are often targeted by lawsuits, R.I.P. Yuzu and Citra. Remember, emulation itself is not illegal, piracy, i.e. distribution of games is. Some emulator devs use screenshots, names of popular games to entice users. Sometimes they also distribute copyrighted content like BIOS files, which paints a bullseye on the app for lawsuits.
Delta emulator officially releases on the iOS App Store
Delta emulator supports the following game systems: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Nintendo 64 (N64), Game Boy Color (GBC), Game Boy Advance (GBA), and Nintendo DS (NDS). The app's description says that there are plenty more to come.
Delta supports various game pads including: Nintendo Switch Pro controllers and Joy-Cons, Nintendo Switch Online controllers (NES, SNES, N64), PS4 (DualShock), PS5 (DualSense), Xbox One S, Xbox Series X, MFi game controllers, and Bluetooth & wired keyboards.
The emulator supports various features such as Save States, automatic backup of save states, Quick Saves, Cheats, Fast Forward, 3D/Haptic Touch, Game Artwork, Custom Controller Skins, etc. It also supports Delta Sync (to sync games, saves, cheats, etc.) between devices, and works with Google Drive and Dropbox.
Delta emulator is not available in the App Store for EU users
Surprisingly, Delta emulator is not available in the App Store for users in the European Union's region. You would have imagined it would be the other way around with the Digital Markets Act, i.e. EU gets to enjoy sideloading, emulators, etc., and the rest of the world would be jealous. But it's kind of funny how things have turned out to be the opposite. But, there is another way to get it, via the new AltStore app marketplace. Read on!
AltStore PAL for iOS launched in EU
Riley Testut, the developer of the Delta emulator, has announced the launch of the AltStore PAL in the European Union region. The third-party app marketplace will host two apps: Delta and Clip (a clipboard app). Testut says that the AltStore PAL will host apps from third-party developers in the future. You can access the new store on devices running iOS 17.4 or above.
The bad news is that the AltStore PAL is not free to access. The good news is it only costs €1.50 + tax, for an annual subscription. The developer says that this was the only option they had, because of Apple's Core Technology Fee, which would require them to pay the Cupertino company €0.50 every time a user downloads Delta via the AltStore. The additional cost for the subscription is likely to cover the server fees. It's also worth noting that while Delta emulator is free for AltStore users, the clipboard app, Clip, is locked behind a donation of €1 (or more). This is a one-time fee.
If you don't want to pay for the subscription, you can use the old AltStore method i.e., the AltServer, to sideload the app manually on your iPhone. But you will need to connect it with a computer and refresh the app once every week to continue using it. It's a tedious process, which you can read about on the official wiki. Some users have suggested an alternative workaround where you could create an Apple ID in the U.S., get the app, add it to your family and share it with yourself. I'm not sure if this would work, I've not tried it.
The best part is that Delta emulator is completely free, there are no ads or in-app purchases in the app. Download the emulator from the app store. As for playing the games, you will need to obtain the ROMs and BIOS files on your own, we can't help you with that. I will suggest looking around the internet for fan-made games, aka ROM Hacks and Patches for your favorite games, they may offer an entirely new experience.
The app is compatible with iOS 14.0 or later, macOS 11.0 or above (Apple Silicon Macs), and also supports Apple Vision. One thing to note here is that the emulator while iPad compatibility is not listed, it does work on the tablets, though it uses the iOS version, so it doesn't a full screen experience.
Having emulators on iPhones is a big win for iOS gamers, and it might convince some people to jump ship from Android to iPhone. And of course, having emulators on iPads is fantastic. Hopefully, we will see more emulators like Retroarch, PPSSPP next on iOS.
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