The iGBA emulator for iOS devices, which allowed users to play Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games, was quickly shut down by Apple due to copyright and spam violations.
iGBA emulator was available for download from sources other than the App Store shortly after its release.
Developer Riley Testut, the mind behind GBA4iOS, an iOS emulator, expressed discontent with iGBA, viewing it as an unapproved duplicate of his creation. Testut highlighted that his app is covered by the GNU GPLv2 license, but pointed out that iGBA fails to acknowledge this license, potentially breaching its conditions.
Apple stated that iGBA was removed for violating spam and copyright-related application review guidelines. Testut expressed frustration with Apple before the removal, not with the iGBA developer.
Mattia La Spina, the iGBA developer, did not directly admit to using Testut code, but was surprised by the app’s impact and apologized. He stated that he reached out to Testut via email.
iGBA received criticism for gathering data from users without obtaining their consent, in addition to facing copyright concerns. Despite the app listing stating the collection of location data and identifiers, some users noted that they were not asked for permission to access this information.
