Since Apple opened the App Store to emulators back in April, we've seen a veritable gold rush of retro gaming console emulators available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. But a PC emulator has been noticeably absent — until now that is. And with an app that Apple previously rejected no less.
Apple has officially approved the app UTM SE, which emulates an old-school computer to run classic software and games, and it's now available for free for iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, as first spotted by the Verge. Last month, Apple rejected UTM SE from the App Store following a lengthy review process, arguing that PCs are distinct from consoles when it comes to gaming. Additionally, Apple also barred UTM SE from third-party marketplaces in the European Union.
At the time, the UTM SE team said it wasn't intending to challenge Apple's ruling since the app provided a "subpar experience." It's not clear what led to the reversal. We've reached out to Apple for more information and will update this when we hear back.
We are happy to announce that UTM SE is available (for free) on iOS and visionOS App Store (and coming soon to AltStore PAL)!Shoutouts to AltStore team for their help and to Apple for reconsidering their policy.https://t.co/HAV5JnT5GOJuly 13, 2024
Based on what the UTM SE team posted on X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend, it seems Apple may have reconsidered its policy. The app itself also received an upgrade that could have contributed, as part of the problem was that Apple's policies bar certain apps from offering a Just In Time (JIT) compilation. The JIT compiler is frequently used among emulators for its ease of development, but Apple restricts its usage to specific applications because of potential security risks. Over the weekend, the UTM SE team said they managed to create a workaround with the help of another developer to create a "JIT-less build."
As with other emulators on the App Store, UTM SE is pretty bare-bones out the gate. But the app does have a handy link to UTM’s site with guides for Windows XP through Windows 11 emulation. There you can download pre-built virtual Linux machines as well.
The creation of a JIT-less PC emulator also has some interesting implications for the emulator marketplace as a whole. Now that one developer has managed to make it to the App Store despite Apple's strict guidelines, others are more incentivized to try to find success with their own workarounds as well.
