A new game emulator for iOS has joined the party. UTM, an open-source PC operating system emulator, has released UTM SE after a lengthy review process and a previous rejection.
You can download UTM SE for free on App Store for iOS and visionOS, and it’ll be added to AltStore Pal, an alternative app marketplace in the EU. “Shoutouts to AltStore team for their help and to Apple for reconsidering their policy,” UTM posted on X (formerly Twitter).
According to the developers (and spotted by The Verge), the app was rejected from the App Store and third-party app stores in the EU in June. In a statement posted to X, this was due to rule 4.7 in the App Store guidelines, which applies to other apps such as Delta — Game Emulator that emulate consoles for playing video games. After a two-month-long review process, Apple rejected the app’s inclusion because, as the developer states, “PC is not a console.” It cited rule 2.5.2 under the Notarization Review Guidelines, which states apps may not “download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps.”
— UTM (@UTMapp) June 9, 2024
Looking through Apple’s guidelines, its rejection seems to come from the app’s use of a just in time (JIT) compilation. This is often used by emulators like UTM to take code and convert it so that it can work for any system. Since Apple operating systems are notoriously locked down, apps like UTM let you emulate or host over 30 operating systems for MacOS, iPadOS, and iOS. However, its use of JIT, according to Apple, is a security risk that can expose the user to malware.
So the UTM now on the App Store, UTM SE, doesn’t involve JIT. However, developer Turing Software says that the app “is a subpar experience and isn’t worth fighting for.” This might be similar to what the Dolphin emulator is dealing with in regards to an iOS or MacOS app. The UTM post links to a blog on oatmealdome.me that notes Dolphin uses an “interpreter” to run code to get around JIT, but it’s “many times slower.”
Basically, UTM SE will be like the regular UTM, but will run a lot slower. It also seems to support fewer operating systems, just noting “x86, PPC, and RISC-V architectures” on its store page. However, if you just want to play some retro PC games on your phone, it might be worth checking out — especially because it’s free.
There are a bunch of other iPhone emulators now available, though, including the aforementioned Delta, RetroArch, and PPSSPP. This is thanks to new regulations in the EU under the Digital Markets Act that pushed Apple to allow third-party app stores on its devices.
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