14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has erroneously accepted the gazillionth game emulator packaged as something else altogether, allowing customers worldwide to download and use an app that is in direct violation of the App Store guidelines.
Developer Kyle Hankinson downright defied Apple, which removed identical apps in the past, by submitting Floppy Cloud to the App Store and actually getting it approved.
Advertised as a file manager
Kyle markets the $1.99 / €1.79 Floppy Cloud app saying, “Remember the good ol days, when files existed locally and were alway at hand even without the internet? Floppy cloud brings those days back!”
“Floppy Cloud allows you to connect to remove services such as Dropbox or an FTP server and preview your files as well as downloading them locally, so that they are available anytime, even if you are in an are without wifi or cellular services,” he explains.
The developer even took the time to make improvements to the emulator’s file management features in a 1.0.4 update rolled out on the 12th of November, when he allegedly fixed freezing when saving a file from Dropbox, and an issue that could cause local files to be removed when saving a file from Dropbox. The update further added a way to go back to the home screen by shaking the device.
It isn’t clear when the emulator snuck in, but if it’s been in there right from the get-go, Apple has been hosting this rogue app for months.
App hides a dirty little secret
The file management features appear to be functional, so at least it’s not a total lie. However, according to the people who’ve tried the app, if you load up NES and SNES ROMs onto it, the app will run them in an emulator interface, allowing you to relive old memories from the ‘90s. If you can manage to find the appropriate ROMs, that is (which shouldn’t be too hard for tech savvy gamers).
The app may sound legitimate and a real gem for the gamer population, but in reality these tools circumvent copyright laws and allow their users to pirate games that they don’t own. It’s legal to play a game on any platform you desire, so long as you own the actual cartridge and you’re in its possession, but few people find themselves in these ideal circumstances where the law can’t touch them.
Then again, we haven’t heard of too many avid gamers having their door smashed open by the authorities for playing downloaded ROMs on iOS emulators. But just to be safe, Apple will probably pull this one with the first chance it gets.
