Retro gaming: Delta emulator comes to iPad – EU left out
Developer Riley Testut has brought his popular game emulator from the iPhone to the iPad. The problem: the AltStore is still missing in the EU.
Delta goes iPad: If there wasn't a small problem...
(Image: Delta-Projekt)
The team around developer and App Store activist Riley Testut has made good on its announcement and has now released the popular retro game emulator Delta for the iPad. The problem: EU citizens still have to stay outside, as the alternative app marketplace AltStore PAL, which is already available for the iPhone, is still missing for the tablet.
It only starts with iPadOS 18
Apple ID accounts that are not from the EU have been able to obtain Delta for the iPad via Apple's App Store since the weekend. In the European Union, however, the emulator is only distributed via AltStore PAL, which costs just under €1.80 per year via Patreon to cover Apple's controversial Core Technology Fee. Although Apple wants to bring alternative App Marketplace offerings to the iPad, this will only happen with iPadOS 18, as Apple has announced.
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"Marketplace apps, like all iOS apps, must meet notarization requirements and can only be installed through the Marketplace developer's website. These features are available to users in the 27 EU member states and will be introduced in iPadOS 18 later this fall," the company said succinctly. Meanwhile, it looked as if Apple would not equip iPadOS with the alternative App Marketplace programs at all because the company assumed that iPadOS would not fall under the regulation of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Tablet support is part of the app package
Testut and the team decided to distribute the iPad version of Delta as part of the iOS package, as is the case with many other apps. Accordingly, it was apparently not possible to publish the application individually for the iPad in one of the EU app stores. It is also conceivable, however, that the team did not want to waive the obligation to use the AltStore PAL within the EU.
iPad support is part of Delta 1.6 and the app, which according to the creators now has "10 million+" users, has been "fully optimized for the [tablet]". Although it was already possible to run Delta on the iPad before, only the iPhone app was used there. In the future, there will be full-screen playback, custom controller skins for the iPad only, support for Stage Manager and Split View (i.e. multiple windows) as well as handoff support for switching between iPhone and iPad. In the future, the app will also no longer require BIOS files and will work better with DS games. Delta is offered free of charge in Apple's App Store.
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