Summary

  • Apple now allows PC emulators like iDOS 3 in the App Store, following clarification of guidelines in July.
  • Old school gamers rejoice with easy access to legacy titles on the go without sideloading apps.
  • Developer Chaoji Li celebrates after the long wait for Apple to open up to PC emulators.

Earlier this year, Apple officially allowed gaming emulators in the App Store, which led to the launch of Delta and RetroArch on the storefront. This was great news for old school gamers who could now easily play legacy titles on the go, without having to jump over additional hurdles such as sideloading applications. However, at that time, the App Store's guidelines only allowed gaming emulators, not PC emulators in general. Apple finally clarified this requirement in July, which saw the arrival of the UTM SE PC emulator. Now, yet another PC emulator has launched on the storefront.

DOS for the masses... for now?

The iDOS 3 emulator developed by Chaoji Li had been rejected in June, likely because it offered DOS emulation capabilities as a whole rather than just emulating games. However, now that Apple has modified bullet point 4.7 of its App Review Guidelines to include the words "PC emulator", this category of apps can now be legitimately offered through the App Store too. This move has led to Apple finally approving iDOS 3 for the App Store.

An image of the MS DOS Prompt
Source: Ghettoblaster via Wikimedia Commons

As spotted by The Verge, Li has still offered some words of caution in their celebratory blog post, saying that:

It has been a long wait for common sense to prevail within Apple. As much as I want to celebrate, I still can't help being a little bit cautious about the future. Are we good from now on? [...]

I hope iDOS can now enjoy its turn to stay and grow.

P.S. Even though words feel inadequate at times, I would like to say thank you to the supporters of iDOS. In many ways, you keep iDOS alive.

The waters have always been a bit murky when it comes to the topic of emulation, but it's nice to see big tech corporations finally facilitating developers and consumers on this front. It remains to be seen if more PC emulators will make their way to the App Store, but for now, you can grab iDOS 3 from Apple's storefront for $0.99.