TOtosh·Aug 12, 2024Submission
Delta is an all-in-one classic video game emulator for non-jailbroken iOS
2 points · Open discussionrileytestut
Delta
Swift2021–2024
rileytestut / Delta
Delta
Delta is an all-in-one classic video game emulator for non-jailbroken iOS devices.
5Distinct people
7Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
6.3KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Delta is an all-in-one classic video game emulator for non-jailbroken iOS devices.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use has been verified yet.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year7 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2021-11-20 17:34:32 UTC to 2024-08-12 17:15:44 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 1 | 4 |
What Hacker News says
7 sourcesSounds like you're going to be in the business of fielding unpopular opinions for quite some time. I'm shocked that someone would shake their fist at the person developing code that you can go download right now[0] and not the business that prevents your phone from using it. If this is your sincere opinion, you either misunderstand the situation or expect to have your cake and eat it too.
[0] https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta
In AltStore. The first Apple approved alternative App Store> I have not seen anything that the release on the App Store was held up by apple and that this wasn't just instead an simultaneous release on both platforms by the developer.
See this commit from 3 years ago[1]! On Delta's Repo:
> Delta was originally developed under the impression Apple would allow it into the App Store. Unfortunately Apple later changed their minds, leaving me no choice but to find a new way to distribute Delta. Long story short, this led me to create AltStore, which now serves as the official way to install Delta onto your device.
The main reason why you “have not seen anything that the release on the App Store was held up by apple” is that because you did not want to see it, because it goes against your believes (believes that have been manufactured by Apple's propaganda machine).
> Yes Apple did not previously allow
Read the rest
this until they changed their policy recently to allow emulation (which I think was about a month ago).
And guess why their changed their policy? Because of DMA put them in an untenable posture.
> This does not change the fact that the developer is choosing to put the app on the App Store everywhere except for the EU, and in the EU you have to use their store.
That's a genuine “fuck you Apple” move, which is understandable given how much “fuck you Delta” Apple gave them before, but it's also a bit of a problem. But here again this is 100% on Apple! They can 100% ban this kind of things by adding a policy to the app store that says “If you want to distribute on the App store outside of the EU, you have to provide your software on the app store in the EU as well” even if that doesn't prevent the release on an alternative store. The main reason why they don't do that, is because it would ruin their FUD about this exact situation.
You are being manipulated by a trillion dollar company, that not only hate your individual freedom, but also wants to make sure you hate it yourself so you never ask for it. And unfortunately that propaganda keeps proving highly effective…
[1] https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta/blob/abd7338a08a4948c55...
Presumably to encourage people to subscribe to the AltStore, which doesn't feel like a very classy move. (Update below – it might be because of Apple's CTF.)
This is in addition to a somewhat dubious licensing clause on the Delta GitHub repo that violates the GPL, under which most of the emulator cores it uses are licensed: https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta/issues/296
On the other hand, due to how Apple's EU "compliance" is implemented (opting into the new business terms is all-or-nothing per legal entity, not per account), I believe it might be impossible for the developer to now publish any apps in the EU App Store without paying the CTF anyway, so it does all go back to Apple's malicious compliance in the end.
In AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available nowSeems like this was just an (unlicensed) "fork", with the only addition being obtrusive ads.
The copyright situation here seems a bit confusing, though: At least for Delta, a multi-console emulator by the same author, there's a notice that the author "has no choice but to distribute Delta under the AGPLv3 license" (due to the emulator cores being licensed as that) [1].
The license note goes on to say "unless you plan to submit your app to Apple’s App Store, in which case written permission from me is explicitly required".
This sounds like an additional restriction incompatible with at least the GPL-sourced emulator cores included.
[1] https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta
In Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA from App Store Due to Copyright ViolationsThe main thing is Delta, an excellent game emulator: https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta
In Altstore: Home for apps that push the boundaries of iOS