Apple finally opens its App Store to a new category of applications

Week after week, Apple opens the borders of its iPhone. The firm has modified the rules of its App Store to authorize emulators.

After cloud gaming, emulators? Apple is gradually adjusting its App Store regulations after being forced by the European Union to authorize alternative application stores. The giant does not want to leave the field open to a competitor to slip into an application section that the App Store has voluntarily left aside.

A partial opening

In an April 5, 2024 App Store policy update, Apple added the “ games from retro game console emulators to the list of allowed software “. This suggests that emulators of old consoles will finally have their place on the App Store. Be careful however, the new regulation talks about retro game consoles and game distribution within a legal framework. There is therefore no question of authorizing everything and anything on the Apple store. The firm specifies that the developers are “ responsible for all software offered in your application, including its compliance with these guidelines and all applicable laws “.

The regulations do not explicitly specify whether an emulator can load games already transferred to the iPhone via its file explorer. This first opening to retro games could therefore only concern major publishers who have all the rights to their own titles. For example, Sega could choose to offer a collection of Megadrive games on iPhone with this update.

The good news is that this change concerns the whole world and not just the European Union. We can still suspect that it is the change in regulations in Europe that is pushing Apple to these changes. Especially since the firm is also on the radar of authorities in the United States.

It now remains to be seen whether the developers of the best-known emulators like Dolphin will take the risk of offering their applications on the App Store. Recently, the developers of the Yuzu emulator had to terminate their work by Nintendo.