High-level emulator for iPhone OS apps

[callalex]

Almost every program that I bought on the Steam store in 2009 runs flawlessly today on the latest Windows version, and even on new Linux distros that couldn’t have even been imagined in 2009.

Exactly zero software that I purchased on the App Store since 2009 still functions at all, on the exact same platform. What a pathetic showing by Apple.

[jwells89]

Is that really a fair comparison, though? The changes seen by smartphones (both hardware and software) in that period of time are much more dramatic than PCs saw in the same period. In 2009, PCs as a device category were mature already while smartphones were just getting started.

Windows (and thus anything mimicking it) is also a bit of on outlier when it comes to backwards compatibility anyway. There aren’t too many other systems still being developed that a 14 year old binary will run on, let alone run correctly.

[anotherhue]

The contrast is remarkable, if there was any desire for backwards compatibility it would have presented itself.

They simply don't care.

[hedora]

About half the MacOS software I had in 2009 still works, but only because it has Windows ports that I can run in Linux via Steam.

About 10% still works on MacOS.

[mchanson]

Apple doesn't prioritize it. And it is a bummer. Leaves it to the community, but then their OSes are so locked down that its probably a harder problem than on other platforms.

History matters and Apple could invest a bit here to go a long way.

[jitl]

Compare to similarly priced Windows Phone and Nokia apps

[astrange]

You probably shouldn't run anything from 2009 that might try to connect to the internet.

[KerrAvon]

How much battery and storage do you want to burn for the privilege of emulating old ARMv6 binaries?

[fuzzy2]

Yes, Microsoft is incredibly (read: ridiculously) focused on backwards-compatibility. It is Windows’ USP. It’s also a huge driver in making Windows suck so much.

Apple appears to be rather focused on not keeping legacy stuff around too long. Good on them.

[vasdae]

>Almost every program that I bought on the Steam store in 2009 runs flawlessly today on the latest Windows version

I don't believe this. Perhaps you meant "Every single program"? ;)

[ianlevesque]

Very interesting. The "why" context seems to be buried in an issue comment https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/issues/181#issuec... and I guess the purpose is to emulate old iOS games, from the early Cambrian explosion of ideas at the start of the App Store. This is also an era I am nostalgic for, with lots of new concepts, art pieces, and indie games, before anyone knew how to sustainably monetize, for better or worse. For example, Distant Shore is definitely a relic from a simpler time! https://johnnybgamer.com/2009/08/13/distant-shore/

[kennywinker]

No need to hunt so deep into the repo, it's right there in the 3rd paragraph of the description: "The goal of this project is to run games from the early days of iOS"

[layer8]

A lot of games were cut off by the 64-bit transition. I'm still a bit sour that Apple didn’t add a 32-bit compatibility layer.

[slimsag]

Distant shore was fantastic, I remember playing it a ton when I was younger and got an iPod touch for the first time. I've been thinking about that concept of game and how it could be integrated into other games

[gmerc]

if this can run bookworm I am sold

[hoherd]

> The goal of this project is to run games from the early days of iOS

This is exciting! There are a bunch of great iOS and iPadOS games that no longer work that my kids and I would love to play again! It's disappointing that Apple can do things like Rosetta but didn't work hard enough on keeping compatibility with old iOS versions.

[tech234a]

The developers have begun asking for permission to legally redistribute some apps that are compatible with this emulator: https://touchhle.org/app-archive/

[LegNeato]

This is what osmeta did (bought by Facebook). I believe it shipped in whatsapp and messenger (see https://twitter.com/steipete/status/1007428817579859969, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11599617) but later fell out of favor and was replaced with react native and pure native rewrites.

[TazeTSchnitzel]

A little bird told me that they wanted to open-source it but they were waiting for the Oracle v Google lawsuit to conclude, and that dragged on a long time, so maybe they have up.

[saagarjha]

Massive shame, honestly. Interesting technology that basically got used once and then discarded.

[lukeh]

Wow, whatever is going on (macros?) to write ObjC class implementations in Rust with a hybrid syntax is very, very clever.

[nneonneo]

Yes, macros: https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/blob/trunk/src/ob....

[mkolassa]

Defender Chronicles, ChainRxn, Zombie Wars 2, etc.

Maybe even all the games I purchased before they were updated to include all the IAP’s.

I am so looking forward to the possibilities.

[3ace]

I haven't heard or see someone mentioning Defender Chronicles for a long time now

[terrycody]

But anywhere to find those vanished iAPs from old days?

[qingcharles]

This is a good community for finding old iPhone apps and games:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/

[flykespice]

The only one game I'm looking forward to play on this emulator is the long forgotten Bioshock 1 port

[jamesgeck0]

What's the appeal of the iOS port over one of the PC versions?