Emulators For iPhone And iPad May Be Killed By iOS 8.1

We heard a couple of weeks back that Apple has already started development on iOS 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. The first major update for its new software, iOS 8.1, is expected to be released later this month if rumors are to be believed. The beta has already been seeded to developers and the team which developed GBA4iOS emulator has found that Apple has closed a loophole in the beta which allowed users to install SNES and Game Boy emulators on iPhone and iPad.

Before this loophole was discovered the only way to download and install emulators on iPhone and iPad was to jailbreak the device. That brought its own set of complications which is why many opted against jailbreaking their devices.

The trick with this loophole is actually quite simple. Users only had to move back the date and time to at least two months back on their device and then download the required emulator through mobile Safari.

Dario Sepulveda of the GBA4iOS team has found that this loophole has been patched off in iOS 8.1 beta which was seeded to developers recently. He writes that this trick “fuels the emulator communities nowadays” and that without it “everything looks bleak.”

It can’t be said for sure if Apple will reverse this decision before iOS 8.1 is released for all supported devices. If the loophole remains patched in the final release then the emulator communities will have to look elsewhere, but there’s a problem, so far no one has come up with a working iOS 8.x jailbreak.

Better hold off on the iOS 8.1 update if you want to enjoy playing classic games on your iPhone and iPad.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Tablets
Tags: iOS 8.1