Apple App Store’s Updated Policy on Game Emulators

Delta Emerges as Top App Store Emulator, But a Roadblock Still Exists for Dolphin

Apple recently made a noteworthy policy change allowing game emulators on the popular App Store, resulting in a surge in the popularity of Delta, one of the essential emulation apps available. However, Dolphin, another well-known emulator, is still facing a policy roadblock put forth by Apple.

The Challenge Faced by Dolphin

In a blog post, Dolphin explains that the main reason behind its inability to appear on the App Store lies in Apple’s resistance to applications utilizing Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation.

The GameCube and Wii, gaming devices that Dolphin aims to emulate, house a PowerPC-based CPU, while all modern Apple devices employ an ARM-based CPU architecture. In order to run a GameCube or Wii game on an iPhone, it is essential to convert the game’s PowerPC code to ARM so that it can be understood by the device’s CPU.

Despite Dolphin’s efforts, Apple has allegedly denied their request to incorporate JIT, likely perceiving it as a security precaution. Dolphin’s blog post effectively highlights the crucial role played by JIT in the emulator’s performance.

Witness the Significance of JIT

Feel free to watch both videos concurrently to understand the indispensability of JIT in running Dolphin on iOS-based devices. Moreover, for an in-depth discussion on this matter, please visit the full blog post here.

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