Apple made significant changes to the App Store with iOS 17. In accordance with European Union rules, emulator applications were allowed in the App Store. In this context, emulator applications for many consoles were presented to the digital store. However, it was recently revealed that a PC emulator developed for iOS was banned.

Apple did not allow PC emulator app for iOS

Apple has banned access to an open-source app that allows iPhone and iPad users to run operating systems such as Windows and Linux. The emulator app, UTM, was denied distribution in the App Store.

UTM is a service that aims to bring desktop operating system functionality to mobile devices. The development team submitted UTM to the Apple App Store following the change that allowed retro game console emulators. However, Apple ruled that UTM violated App Store rules, arguing that “the PC is not a console”.

Apple also blocked the emulator from being listed on third-party app stores in the EU. The reason given was that an app that cannot be listed in the App Store cannot be offered on external sources. This means UTM is banned from iPhone and iPad altogether.

Faced with the rejection, the UTM team said it would re-examine Apple’s terms. Accordingly, it disabled just-in-time (JIT) compilation in the application. However, this resulted in reduced Windows and Linux performance. So it will not be possible to get the expected performance from the emulator.

UTM will continue to be available to iOS users through unofficial sideloading methods. On the other hand, the Mac version of UTM is available on the App Store.