Apple has recently rejected a seemingly tempting and neat app, a Commodore 64 emulator from Manomio, that provided an on-screen virtual joystick and keyboard. Portrait and landscape gaming were also supported and this app included a fully licensed C64 emulator.
The reason for the rejection is the fact that the app breaks the rules of the iPhone SDK Agreement.
Turns out that an app mustn’t install or launch another executable code by any means, even if it’s a plugin architecture we’re talking about, calling other frameworks or APIs. The same rule says that “no interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an app except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s)”.
It’s interesting to note that Golden Axe and Sonic are games available on the iPhone and they emulate old game ROMS, just like the C64 app, except for the fact that it allows you to type in BASIC code. Unfair treatment from Apple?
Here’s the app we’re talking about, in action:
[via mobilecrunch]
