Popular Delta Retro Game Emulator Officially Comes to iPad

[MacRumors]

Game emulator Delta, which has been a hit among retro gaming enthusiasts on iPhone, is now officially available for iPad, following an app update to version 1.6.

Delta has been hugely popular since its debut on the App Store and the emulator has been a constant presence in the Top Charts, with users flocking to play retro games that originally appeared on NES, SNES, N64, Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance.

With iPad support in v1.6, users can now take full advantage of the device's larger display and play in fullscreen. There are new controller skins designed specifically for iPad, and the app supports multiple windows in Stage Manager and Split View, with games able to optionally pause when switching windows. The iPad version also supports external game controllers, and the developer Riley Testut says emulated games "hand off" seamlessly between iPhone and iPad, allowing gamers to continue playing where they left off.

Testut says the need for BIOS files has now been eliminated, streamlining the setup process. Users should also notice a considerable improvement in the performance of DS games. The update introduces various menu button gestures, providing more intuitive navigation options. An experimental feature, "Reverse Controller Skin Screens," has also been added, allowing users to switch controller skin screens at runtime, offering greater customization and flexibility during gameplay.

Testut previously explained that Delta for iPad had not originally been a development priority because the plan was to limit the emulator's launch to the EU via alternative app marketplace AltStore PAL, which doesn't support iPad.

However, in a reversal of a years-old policy, Apple in April decided to allow retro game emulators on the ‌App Store‌. Delta was therefore made available on the App Store as a free download in the United States and other countries, with users supporting the developer via Patreon. Official download links for the latest version can be found on the Delta website.

Article Link: Popular Delta Retro Game Emulator Officially Comes to iPad

 

[a3Dman]

Great use of iPad screen!
I just wish that JIT would be supported even under developer settings, this will open unlimited possibilities of emulation specially on the M4 iPads.

 

[SoldOnApple]

When will we see Provenance?

 

[con2apple]

Thanks to the EU. Without them, there would be no emulator on iOS in the USA.

In case anyone asks why:
Because Apple had to install the opening for the EU anyway and could not explain why this change should be impossible in the rest of the world.
Compare this with the General Data Protection Regulation and Facebook's lamentations a few years ago.

So face it:
Even if you don't live in the EU, you benefit from regulations for more competition and user freedom.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I haven't really tried any emulators on the iPhone or iPad but with these new rules and apps being released I do look forward to trying it, especially in the iPad with a bigger screen.

Do any of you who has tried it use it with a separate controller and if so, what would be the most "universal" controller to use.
Also, where do you get the ROMS from?

Edit:

Found this video, seems like an Xbox controller works fine.
A shame full-screen isn't available

 

[MilaM]

Also, where do you get the ROMS from?

That's the tricky question. Legally speaking, you would have to own a cartridge (meaning a proper license, even if it's second hand) and then make a copy of it by yourself. Downloading the ROM from some shady site is most likely not legal. That's my laymen's understanding of the issue.

 

[Reverend Benny]

That's the tricky question. Legally speaking, you would have to own a cartridge (meaning a proper license, even if it's second hand) and then make a copy of it by yourself. Downloading the ROM from some shady site is most likely not legal. That's my laymen's understanding of the issue.

Yea, that's how I did it in the past when I used third party cartridges on my physical GBA. But not mad about sponsoring these shady sites these days.

 

[xxFoxtail]

Thanks to the EU. Without them, there would be no emulator on iOS in the USA.

In case anyone asks why:
Because Apple had to install the opening for the EU anyway and could not explain why this change should be impossible in the rest of the world.
Compare this with the General Data Protection Regulation and Facebook's lamentations a few years ago.

So face it:
Even if you don't live in the EU, you benefit from regulations for more competition and user freedom.

There's plenty of web browser based emulators that have worked perfectly fine for me in the past on iPhone and iPad. They're usually a bit annoying to set up, but usually worked pretty well, though it was a coin toss whether they supported save states or saved files. It's nice to have some native apps now though.

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

Thanks to the EU. Without them, there would be no emulator on iOS in the USA.

Nonsense. There's no EU regulator saying "AaPle muST leT peoplE downLod EmulaTORs'.

Retro emulators existed in the App Store years ago. They were pulled because of unclear legality and security, both issues that still exist.

When this stuff is niche companies turn a blind eye. Making these emulators more popular is just going to get someone arrested. Now Nintendo will force a lot of sites to hand over the logs.

Don't think VPN protects you either. Trackers go around that stuff all the time. If you're downloading ROMS today you going to be F'd unless you live in Siberia.

Most of those ROM sites use click bait links and full of malware too. Good luck with them.

 

[hans1972]

Thanks to the EU. Without them, there would be no emulator on iOS in the USA.

In case anyone asks why:
Because Apple had to install the opening for the EU anyway and could not explain why this change should be impossible in the rest of the world.

Of course they could.

Apple: We don't want emulators on iPhone and iPad.

Pretty easy explanation.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Thanks to the EU. Without them, there would be no emulator on iOS in the USA.

In case anyone asks why:
Because Apple had to install the opening for the EU anyway and could not explain why this change should be impossible in the rest of the world.
Compare this with the General Data Protection Regulation and Facebook's lamentations a few years ago.

So face it:
Even if you don't live in the EU, you benefit from regulations for more competition and user freedom.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Just because there is a temporal ordering of events does not mean the first caused the second.

There are at least two possibilities. 1. You are correct and this is because of EU regulations. 2. Apple’s allowing emulators again into the App Store is not tied to EU regulations.

Which one is correct? I don’t know. I don’t work for Apple. We just cannot assume that some action is caused by some factor without clear evidence. All I’m doing is pointing out there might be other explanations. Or, it’s because of the EU.

 

[Lyrics23]

Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Just because there is a temporal ordering of events does not mean the first caused the second.

There are at least two possibilities. 1. You are correct and this is because of EU regulations. 2. Apple’s allowing emulators again into the App Store is not tied to EU regulations.

Of course it’s due to EU regulations.

Apple don’t want non-EU users suddenly seeing the advantages of regulation in the EU and supporting similar regulations in their own countries.

Suddenly allowing emulators in the App Store worldwide prevents them from being EU exclusive, and Apple neatly sidesteps the issue.

 

[DunedinD]

it doesn’t seem like on-screen controls are expected to be that popular compared to physical controllers, unless I’ve overlooked a setting that allows you to position each control where you want it. Reaching for the centre of larger iPads to press Select or Start is awkward in the extreme.

Delta’s interface is lovely in places, horribly basic in others, but it’s not alone in this among its rivals.

 

[emulajavi]

So Delta is available for free on the AppStore around the world except on the EU?! What a complete nonsense.

 

[bradman83]

I don't know if this was an option in prior versions but this version finally supports external or attached keyboards as an input method. I swear I've been using emulators for so long that I'm better at most games playing via a keyboard than I am with the native controller.

 

[foobarbaz]

Nonsense. There's no EU regulator saying "AaPle muST leT peoplE downLod EmulaTORs'.

Because there doesn’t have to be.

Ensure free competition and the market just took care of it.

 

[Populus]

Please dear Delta developer(s), if you are read this, consider launching it on the Apple App Store, even if it’s paid, even if you have to change something to differentiate it from the Alt Store version. I don’t want to install multiple App Stores on my devices.

 

[MilaM]

2. Apple’s allowing emulators again into the App Store is not tied to EU regulations.

And what would be the reason for Apple's sudden change of mind/policy? Give us just one that is plausible.

 

[iMacDragon]

Please dear Delta developer(s), if you are read this, consider launching it on the Apple App Store, even if it’s paid, even if you have to change something to differentiate it from the Alt Store version. I don’t want to install multiple App Stores on my devices.

Unless/until EU stomps on apples business plan changes for EU it sounds like it can't be released on app store in EU due to having accepted the new terms that would make it cost prohibitive to distribute, it is available in other app stores.

It does sound like EU is disagreeing with the CTF and such so this may still happen.

 

[wbeasley]

Once EU said Apple had to allow alt app stores (and they would be full of game emulators since that seems to be the main thing sideloaders wanted), it probably made good business sense for Apple to allow them in the official app store.

The emulators themselves are not problematic. The getting of ROMs is.
Before Apple knew this and took a holistic approach: we let you install something that's legal to allow you to violate someone else's copyright is wrong. Yeah it stopped people who owned ROMs doing what they wanted (but then I'm old enough to remember when ripping your owned CDs was considered a grey area too).

Now allowing in Apple's store reduces the desire to load an alt app store at all.
Smart move Apple
And when people start getting issued fines for hosting ROMs, Apple can wash their hands as the EU forced this opening ...

cue the proEU gang for the usual comments... 3,2,1...

 

[MilaM]

Please dear Delta developer(s), if you are read this, consider launching it on the Apple App Store, even if it’s paid, even if you have to change something to differentiate it from the Alt Store version. I don’t want to install multiple App Stores on my devices.

I don't really care so much for games. But it's fun to see that an old-school game emulator might become the most significant driver for the popularity of alternative app stores on iOS 😂.

I also can't really blame the developers for going this route. They probably just hate dealing with Apple's app review, like every developer who pushes the boundaries of Apple's rules.

 

[wbeasley]

And what would be the reason for Apple's sudden change of mind/policy? Give us just one that is plausible.

to reduce the desire to install an alt app store

 

[SatanGirl]

It’s pretty obvious where you get ROMs from. Are you guys seriously sooo scared cmon. I bet some of you have been smoking stuff illegally without panicking that old lady next door is an undercover cop. Seriously clicking a link using vpn or proxy in Albania is infinitely easier than smuggling smelly goodies in your backpack in school…

How do you even get through life if that seems scary or too hard?

 

[AppliedMicro]

And what would be the reason for Apple's sudden change of mind/policy? Give us just one that is plausible.

If not the European DMA, maybe the U.S. DoJ antitrust lawsuit against Apple with regard to super apps?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Oddly, I’m getting a tiny bit of controller lag with this update That was not there when I was just up scaling the iPhone size interface on my iPad.