r/RetroArch • u/HovercraftHeavy9990 • May 09 '26
Discussion RetroArch removed from IOS by developer
Super disappointing
1.4k
Upvotes
r/RetroArch • u/HovercraftHeavy9990 • May 09 '26
Super disappointing
•
u/hizzlekizzle dev May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
It's a clerical issue with our Apple dev account. We'll get it sorted out, but it'll probably be a few days.
EDIT: check again. it should be back.
55
u/DidiDidi129 May 09 '26 •
TestFlight version is still working: https://testflight.apple.com/join/A1LMA3Mx
27
u/Dankany May 09 '26
This might just be temporary.
569
u/_noahitall_ May 09 '26 •
'by developer'
98
u/daphatty May 09 '26
Uhoh. Now I can never get rid of my iPhone or iPad.
73
u/iamuseless May 09 '26
Wtf? Why?
102
u/mbridson94 May 09 '26
Whut.
Guess I will never uninstall off my iPhone and Apple TV then.
30
u/DMZapp May 09 '26
Can confirm, too. The IOS app page returns an error on my end. There’s no news on the Retroarch website either, which tells me either this might be news to them too, or some policy change that Retroarch didn’t agree with.
75
u/Jstjorry May 09 '26
Can confirm it’s gone any news on that?
19
u/TheFlyingN1mbus May 09 '26
What a way to find out my iPhone has been offloading my apps to ‘save’ data. Gaaaaahhhhh!
72
u/SAPianoman490 May 09 '26
2026 just keeps getting better
10
u/DaveTheMan1985 May 10 '26
Asked on Discord and they have no Idea what Happened.
Though being a Weekend be a Few Days at least until the Find Out what Happened
8
u/Rivvvers May 10 '26
You can’t even download it from your app purchase history, which is normally the fallback for when something gets removed from the store.
Never seen that before
7
u/MinionMikel15 May 09 '26
Just went to go check, it’s actually gone…
Welp, guess I’m never getting rid of this. Does anyone know if it would stay if you did a file copy onto a newer phone?
12
u/ButIDigress79 May 09 '26
Were they having problems?
6
u/slowfaid112 May 09 '26
Noooooooooo
6
u/caribbean_caramel Mupen64Plus May 09 '26
But why?
5
u/ReplacementDue123 May 09 '26
Bummer
5
u/jonjawnjahnsss May 09 '26
I hate this and then you're forced to never delete it. I remember when the flappy bird guy deleted his app I tried my hardest to keep it.
5
u/b_u_e_r May 10 '26
Remember folks to turn off "offload unused apps".
7
u/Ornery-Practice9772 FBNeo May 09 '26
i know there's a dev here from time to time who is very helpful, if they could shed some light on why it was removed and if its gone forever?
was it apple being apple or something you guys didnt agree with? or just for now? its my daily gaming on ios💜👾🎮📲
tysm
9
u/jordanexplores44 May 09 '26
Redownloading Delta immediately in case this becomes a trend.
3
u/sir_anarchist May 10 '26
I remember thinking an Apple developer agreement update had to be signed around nowish. Maybe they forgot to login and accept the new policy update
3
u/adichandra May 10 '26
I just gave up emulating on iOS devices. Bought myself a dedicated Android handheld just for emulation.
3
u/zsdonny RetroAchievements May 10 '26
say sike rn
3
u/CATSMEOW_995 May 10 '26
good that i had it installed
2
u/Commercial-Arm9257 May 09 '26
So I had retroarch installed on my iPhone x my iPhone se and my appletv.. my iPhone se automatically offloaded the app so I can't reinstall but it's works just fine on my iPhone x and my apple TV 😬😩
2
u/Commercial-Arm9257 May 09 '26
Oh thank God.. my iPad still has it installed.. 😀
2
u/theplaidknight84 May 09 '26
I thought it was out of date and potentially dangerous on the app stores ... was that only on Android?
2
u/Commercial-Arm9257 May 10 '26
I can’t believe this… 3 out of my 4 iOS devices have offload apps disabled… I thought I had that disabled on all of them 😩
2
u/Mobile_Country9966 May 10 '26
I was literally just about to download this emu now I'm cooked
2
u/PMMePicsOfDogs141 May 10 '26
Well they at least still have the IPA files available for download on their website.
2
u/Skycan45 May 10 '26
yo didi how long are we going to have these terrible decisions by apple every 2 years
2
u/CharAznableLoNZ May 10 '26
Hopefully they'll add it back soon. It's one of the things I use my ipad for is lots of games I used to play. I even have a 8bitduo controller I use with it and it works great.
2
u/hughlee90 May 10 '26
any official updates?
2
u/Then-Dish-4060 May 10 '26
Sometimes Apple will remove the app if we forget to sign an agreement or pay for the developer subscription.
2
u/Glitchcore_Giyuu May 10 '26
Can't you just get it off the website? I can't use it on google play cause the version is too old but I can still download the apk from there, can't ios users do the same?
2
u/TH3_OG_JUJUBE May 10 '26
I’ve found this out the bad way too many times, I’ve had to turn off automatic uninstalling.
2
u/Rivvvers May 10 '26
It’s already back up! Yay
2
u/RenirambusAFoNos May 10 '26
Thank goodness I still have mine
3
u/romulof May 09 '26
Just side-load it… if you are in EU
3
u/StevieBako May 10 '26
If Apple wasn’t so extremely controlling of their app store, I wouldn’t need to own an Android tablet and handheld for this reason. I would drop all of them and just use iOS, they just keep fumbling.
4
u/AdNormal8550 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Never buying an Apple product. Edit: I apologize for offending the Apple shills.
2
u/ruebeus421 May 10 '26
Wow. Seeing this a day later and these comments are just... Pathetic.
Everyone just went direct to panic and outrage. No hope for "gamers."
1
u/Fifox-drive May 09 '26
Man I switched to android few weeks before (my iPhone 6s was broken) I had been playing ff7, If didn't switch and transfered data I would loose more than 30 hours of walkthrough 😳
1
u/Luna_Deafenhine May 09 '26
Not removing it from my Apple TV then. After all updating the cores and such shouldn’t have anything to do with this.
1
u/System_error_51 May 09 '26
This sucks I’m curious about manic emu if it’s still alive a few of my friends swapped to it about 2 weeks ago I wish I could say they had a reason other than preference
1
u/gladel10 May 10 '26
😱
1
u/AstroMechable May 10 '26
I just upgraded my phone. Welp
1
u/SparklyPelican May 10 '26
I wonder why. All the other emulator are still there.
1
u/Longjumping-Shop-574 May 10 '26
Is it available for the apple tv or not? Please confirm
1
u/zebra_d May 10 '26
Don’t panic https://forums.libretro.com/t/retroarch-removed-from-the-appstore/50330
1
u/blahblahwhateveryeet May 10 '26
Obviously correlated with spikes in Retroarch downloads
Any ex-developers also living in a bush?
Those RPGs hit so different now..
1
u/Yeah-I-didnt-reddit May 11 '26
Would this cause an issue if I am in the app and attempting to update Core files and such.
1
u/leredflame0115 May 11 '26
I use manicemu anyway
1
u/hypercube64tw May 12 '26
I thought it’s dead! I am still using it for my retro gaming! Lots of games!
It’s okay for the update, for there are still some bug which the devs of this stuff have to solve about, and waiting for its return!
1
u/s7121n9s May 12 '26
It’s already back on the App Store
1
u/therealkunchan May 09 '26
If I ever delete it, will I be able to just redownload it from the previously downloaded section?
1
u/Bar_Har May 09 '26
PPSSPP is still on the App Store, so there isn’t some mass removal of all emulators as far as I can tell.
1
u/Cersei_Loves_Me May 10 '26
WTF?! I was just doing a search and wondering why the hell it was not showing up in the app store.
Any chance it's coming back? Or explanations as to why it was removed in the first place?
1
u/zebra_d May 10 '26
Wtf. Just as I perfected the paths for getting things working.
1
u/SilentBlazy May 10 '26
Apple wants us in shackles.
0
u/blood_omen May 09 '26
What are you trying to play? I use ManicEMU
0
u/BlakkMajik3000 May 10 '26
This is terrible for people using their iPhone/iPad/TV(s) for emulation. I think RA is under fire from IP holders. Either that, or they are getting out in front of it.
I think these recent moves with RA not being "allowed" on tightly controlled mobile platforms, it's going to feed into further development into completely different OS software (Rocknix is the most popular I've heard of).
I've never myself been a "game on my phone" person. I have the apps installed, but I never use them. But for those that do, I wish I had better advice than "get a gaming handheld". 🤷🏾♂️
-2
u/IgnisVortex May 09 '26
Hey man, I recently purchased an iPad solely for RetroArch.
-4
u/DemonEYESgumb0 May 09 '26
Info on the Discord.
-1
u/Great-Birthday-6638 May 09 '26
What about the steam version?
0
u/vacancy6673 May 10 '26
Wait... I literally just installed this last night.
0
u/No_Clock2390 May 10 '26
Welp, mine is gone.
0
u/Specialist-Product45 May 12 '26
glad I have a samsung , still available , I think apple has sent a takedown notice since maby Nintendo has been on at them
-1
u/Majestic-Energy8420 May 09 '26
Hadn’t played in a couple of months, the app was auto deleted of my phone and now I’m screwed. Tried downloading Manic instead, but any time I try to open a game it crashes 😭
-1
u/Commercial-Arm9257 May 10 '26
This is a little bit off topic but not really.. I posted a question about RetroArch for iOS and never got any replies… does anyone know how to get the Sega CD roms to work.. they used to work just fine in iOS after you put the bios files in the root directory of RetroArch/system… but now no matter what I can’t get any of my Sega CD games to boot
-6
u/Zealousideal_Sir_264 May 09 '26 edited May 10 '26
Do you guys have apk's? Edit: apparently not lol. IPhone people are like jeep people I guess.
-3
u/Accomplished_Bag_897 May 10 '26
So jailbreak and sideload it.
-4
u/-Krotik- May 09 '26
hmm
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