Apple vs emulators, part 937,493: MAME4iOS vs Apple idiocy about ROMs

Last year, I argued that Apple never wanted emulators on the App Store. I suspected it felt strong-armed by EU regulators into allowing them, or was using them as a tool to blunt AltStore, which looked set to specialise in the kind of apps Apple wouldn’t approve. I also noted that MAME4iOS was in limbo. But the situation is in fact worse.
The developer had already renamed MAME4iOS to ArcadeMania, due to Apple raising concerns about ownership of the MAME brand. OK. I get that. But a couple of months back, the creator revealed (and I noted on Mastodon) that Apple rejected the app anyway because “they said it can only run ROMs owned by the developer”.
Still, this is app review, right? Mistakes happen. So the app was resubmitted. And computer said no:
The App Review Board evaluated your app and determined that the original rejection feedback is valid.
To address the 5.2.2 issue, please revise your app to only run ROM files created by you or that you specifically own.
We encourage you to review the previous rejection correspondence for this app, make the necessary changes to bring it into compliance with the App Review Guidelines, and resubmit it for review.
ArcadeMania’s creator adds: “I’m kind of at a loss of what to do at this point”. And, yeah, it’s easy to see why. Emulators, by definition, tend to run ROMs their creators don’t own. Apple’s demand is like mandating music player developers own every song users might add. And it’s a doubly baffling decision, given the existence of other emulators, including arcade emulators, on the App Store.
Apple isn’t serious about emulation. It never was. Right now, creating an emulator for iPhone, iPad or Apple TV is a waste of time, given that approval is a lottery with opaque rules Apple changes on a whim and does not apply evenly. And all this further damages the company’s gaming credibility. People who like emulators tend to really like games and they’re vocal. Right now, they continue to shout about Android.
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