{"id":46026,"date":"2024-12-03T15:11:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T20:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=46026"},"modified":"2024-12-03T15:11:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T20:11:30","slug":"ppsspp-emulator-stuck-in-app-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/03\/ppsspp-emulator-stuck-in-app-review\/","title":{"rendered":"PPSSPP Emulator Stuck in App Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

PPSSPP<\/a>:<\/p>\n

PPSSPP is an open source PSP emulator, that lets you run your own PlayStation Portable<\/a> games on your various devices. PPSSPP is officially available on Android through Google Play<\/a>, PC<\/a>, Mac<\/a>, and recently iOS through the App Store<\/a>. There is also a Linux flatpak build<\/a>. The project is ongoing for more than 11 years now, and has been downloaded over 100M times. It has millions of active users on Android.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

For some time now, I have simply not been able to update the paid iOS version on Apple’s App Store. The free version flies through review in a few hours, while the near-identical paid version is just stuck.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Below is an authentic conversation with App Store Review.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

I tried appealing the previous conversation to the App Store review board, with no result.<\/p>

It’s just so frustrating. I want to get a bugfix update out, and I can’t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

App Review is continually complaining about things that either aren’t true or that were allowed for other apps, including from the same developer.<\/p>\n\n

Via Craig Grannell<\/a>, who terms the situation “kafkaesque” (Mastodon<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Apple never wanted emulators on the App Store. I imagine it felt strong-armed into allowing them, due to EU regulators getting antsy, or as a means to attempt to derail third-party app AltStore, which an awful lot of people primarily cared about due to Nintendo emulator Delta. Even with that, Apple first authorised a terrible rip-off over Delta, and everything since has been at best a crapshoot<\/a>.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

These aren’t the only issues emulator authors have faced. Last I checked, MAME4iOS was in limbo. Several other emulator authors have given up. Meanwhile, Apple merrily approves emulators that barely work and are exploitative crap. A cynic might wonder whether this is intent, to showcase the worst of emulation and put people off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Craig Grannell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Increasingly feels like they were only allowed to blunt AltStore and Delta. Now that’s over with, several emulator authors are having trouble with approvals or updates.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Francisco Tolmasky<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Imagine you’re the most valuable company on Earth. Billions of dollars of cash on hand. Best engineers in the world. You could legitimately leave an impact on anything you work on. And one of the primary things you choose to focus on is stubbornly policing fucking game emulators. Like forget about whether it’s good or bad, it is just so unbelievably small minded. An Apple running on all 8 cylinders wouldn’t have time to give a shit about stuff like this.<\/p>

Take a moment to wrap your head around the fact that Apple fought a multi-year court battle to try to prevent you from putting links in your app. I get that that may have significant revenue effects — but the point is that a company with Apple’s resources should have way more interesting and impactful ways of generating revenue. There is something deeply broken from a creativity perspective<\/em> if “don’t let app devs talk to users” represents the state of the art in business strategy at Apple.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

No one is even asking Apple to do<\/em> anything. No one is asking Apple to make sure old apps run. There’s no maintenance burden being requested. Just don’t literally devote time to 1) stopping these projects and then 2) in an act of truly bizarre pettiness, approving a weird competing copycat emulator? Like honestly, would love to hear the reasoning on this move. Only shady ripoff emulators are allowed? This is all so clearly in bad faith that I can’t understand any defense of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n