Doom for iOS it was ported from open sourceand not run through a classic PC emulator.”/>
Earlier this year, Apple began officially allowing “retro game emulators” in the iOS App Store without the need for a cumbersome jailbreak or sideload. But if you’re looking to emulate retro PC games on your iOS device, you’re apparently still out of luck.
In a recent blog update, iDOS developer Chaoji Li said that the latest version of the DOSBox-based MS-DOS emulator has finally been rejected from the iOS App Store this month after a long, two-month review process:
They have decided that iDOS is not a retro game console, so the new rule does not apply. They offered to make changes and resubmit for review, but when I asked what changes I needed to make to be compatible they had no idea, nor when I asked what a retro game console was. It’s still the same old nonsensical “we know it when we see it” kind of response.
iOS app developer Virtual Machine UTM told a similar story about App Store rejection on social media. The reported two-month review process for the UTM app has ended with the App Store Review Board’s “decision[ing] that “the PC is not a console” despite the fact that there are retro games for Windows/DOS[r] the computer that UTM SE can be useful at work,” said the developer.
The April revision to rule 4.7 in Apple’s App Review Guidelines is very specifically worded so that “retro game console emulator apps can offer game downloads [emphasis added].” Emulating a more general computer operating system falls outside the letter of this regulation, even for users interested in emulating retro computer games using these applications.
Because this narrow exception does not apply to classic PC emulators, they end up running afoul of Apple’s Rule 2.5.2, which states that iOS apps cannot “download, install, or execute code that introduces or modifies functionality or functionality of the app, including other apps.” This rule also applies to third-party iOS App Stores, which have recently been allowed under new European Union rules, meaning that even so-called “alternative app markets” do not offer a useful alternative in this case.
What is the difference?
While the specific language of Apple’s App Review Guidelines is clear enough, the reasoning behind the distinction here is a bit more mysterious. Why does Apple treat the idea of a DOSBox-style emulator running an old copy of Microsoft Excel differently than the idea of Delta running a copy of the NES tetris on the same device? Is loading the Windows 95 version of KidPix Studio Deluxe on your iPhone really that different from playing an emulated copy of Mario paint on this same iPhone?
A virtual machine or emulator running a modern computer operating system under iOS could theoretically offer some competition for the apps that Apple offers in its official App Store. But there is certainly a limit to how far this applies when we are talking about imitation older computing environments and non-existent OS. Just as Apple’s iOS game emulation rules only apply to “retro” game consoles, a PC emulation rule can easily be limited to “retro” operating systems (say, those no longer officially supported by their original developers as a rule of thumb).
Alas, iOS users and app developers are currently stuck with this distinction regardless when it comes to iOS PC game emulation. Those looking for a workaround could potentially use an iOS Remote Desktop app to access games running on a physical desktop they actually own. The Internet Archive’s collection of thousands of MS-DOS games will also work in an iOS web browser, though you may need to work a little to get the controls and sound to work properly.
