Didn't know hell froze over.
this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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This is app store competition does. Apple didn’t want an emulator-friendly app store to become super popular.
Do we know if these emulators will support JIT? JIT has always been prohibited on iOS (which is why there are no browsers other than Safari - Firefox and Chrome on iOS are just a Safari WebView plus a crappy interface on top).
Even when sideloading emulators, you only get JIT by paying for a special developer license or using exploits on very specific iOS versions.
Without JIT, sure, go nuts emulating the NES... But forget about anything more demanding than a GameCube, or using this to run a VM or something.
you only get JIT by paying for a special developer license or using exploits on very specific iOS versions.
Actually Altstore has AltJIT which works on all iOS versions altstore supports but requires you to be connected to the same network as a computer running altstore.
run a VM or something
UTM (which is based on QEMU) is already available on iOS.
but requires you to be connected to the same network as a computer running altstore.
So you mean iOS doesn't natively support JIT for App Store apps and requires hacky workarounds?
iOS natively supports JIT (by which we mean writable and executable memory) but Apple locks it down to only two use cases:
- The JavaScript engine in Safari
- Support for running a debugger
AltStore launches a debugger and connects it to your phone. Even though it’s not actually doing anything with a debugger, that’s enough to convince iOS to let your app use memory that’s both writable and executable (the key feature needed for JIT).
Without JIT you need to either resort to a slower form of emulation or do something creative.
I was just pointing out that OPs list was incomplete. Also theoretically someone could include altjit in their app because the App Store guidelines don’t explicitly say you can’t (ofc this would most likely not work).
Sadly jail breaking is required after iOS 11
For what?
For for UTM
No I believe it also works with altstore (though I haven’t personally tried it).
Hmm. I’ll give that a shot.
which is why there are no browsers other than Safari
Wasn't that explicitly forbidden? Browsers don't need jit to be fast enough
Edit: was jit explicitly forbidden? Or is it that running dynamically loaded code was forbidden in general and jit falls under that category? If they're letting emulators and other browser engines in that ban seems to be at least partially lifted
Yes, op is a little confused.
- Browsers (were, still are in many regions) forbidden from using any engine other than the iOS provided webkit.
- Dynamic recompilation is not possible on iOS because of how iOS does code signing. This basically blocks the entire concept of executing instructions that weren't part of the original signed code.
The GameCube also needs a JIT for decent performance. On a phone, that will especially hurt to emulate the CPU in software.
Apple warns that developers are “responsible for all such software offered in your app, including ensuring that such software complies with these Guidelines and all applicable laws.” This raises the question of whether anyone can release a game emulator or only the companies that own the rights to the games distributed for it.
A good move, and great for distribution, but this does look like it’s difficult to publish an emulator unless you could control the games too. I don’t see this clearly permitting a general purpose emulator. It’s possible, but knowing Apple, I would expect that this could let Nintendo publish an emulator but not necessarily an open source project.
I’m glad to see it, but this to me feels more like testing the water then jumping into the deep end.
Man that rule is such bullcrap. Imagine a photo editor that only allowed you to edit your own pictures and only those matching the app's content rating.
I really don't see Nintendo publishing an emulator that runs on hardware they didn't make (yay unnecessary e-waste).
Android Market: hey we did that too!....in 2010.
welcome to 2010s
5 B.E. (Before Enshittification)
Is there any good game boy emulator ? I want to play Pokémon.
Drastic is a fantastic DS emulator for android, it recently became free. I bought it over a decade ago and has been a blast.
Looks like my next phone will be an SE. Literally the one and only reason I swapped to Android was to have easy access to GBA games.