The developers of Delta, a retro game emulator app, have had quite a rollercoaster ride lately. Their latest challenge arose when Adobe accused the app of mimicking its logo, which is essentially a stylized version of the Greek letter delta. However, for this small team of indie developers, receiving legal threats from Adobe is just one of the many intriguing aspects of their journey.
Historically, emulators were not permitted in Apple’s App Store until this spring. The creator of Delta, Riley Testut, previously developed GBA4iOS, an iOS emulator which could be installed using an exploit without jailbreaking. This was a decade ago. Apple eventually caught wind of the exploit and patched it, halting the ability to play games like Pokémon Yellow on mobile devices. So, why is Delta, the successor to GBA4iOS, gaining importance again now?
Apple recently revised its policy to allow retro game emulators, a decision that caught many by surprise. Despite the unexpected turn of events, Testut was prepared as he continued to work on Delta for AltStore, an independent App Store he is constructing. However, another developer copied GBA4iOS, inserted ads, and released it as iGBA on the App Store without Testut’s permission, resulting in its prompt removal.
Eventually, Delta had its moment in the spotlight, soaring to the top spot in the App Store. Testut’s high school dream of making it easier to play Pokémon (and other games) on mobile devices has finally materialized.
If you’re still puzzled about why Apple made these policy changes and how international regulations influenced the scenario, don’t worry. We’ve put together a video to bring you up to speed.
