7 ms·

High-level emulator for iPhone OS apps

141 points by bexsella 3y ago

ianlevesque 3y ago
Very interesting. The "why" context seems to be buried in an issue comment https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/issues/181#issuecomment-1777098259 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/ https://johnnybgamer.com/2009/08/13/distant-shore/
- gmerc 3y ago
  if this can run bookworm I am sold
  - layer8 3y ago
    Not yet: https://appdb.touchhle.org/ https://appdb.touchhle.org/
- kennywinker 3y ago
  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"
- slimsag 3y ago
  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
- layer8 3y ago
  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.
  - astrange 3y ago
    Everyone except game developers managed to come over just fine. This is a skill issue on the game devs' part that they can't stop themselves from doing bad pointer arithmetic. Note you can run 32-bit Windows games through WINE/Rosetta.
hoherd 3y ago
> 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.
callalex 3y ago
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 3y ago
  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.
  - dr_kiszonka 3y ago
    Perhaps it's a matter of priorities. Given how much more powerful today's iPhones are compared to those from 2009, Apple could run older apps in an emulator.
    - Shawnj2 3y ago
      There’s nearly 0 demand for this why is why you can’t do this. If there was this would either be an OS feature or a very popular third party app.
      - seeknotfind 3y ago
        Designing an app to emulate iOS games would be extemely difficult, let alone allowed on the app store. Backwards compatibility requires deep forethought and careful engineering as well as draconian enforcement. I think the technical difficulty plays a huge role here, when weighed against Apple's culture (sleek, minimalist) and the impact it would have on profit.
LegNeato 3y ago
This is what osmeta did (bought by Facebook). I believe it shipped in whatsapp and messenger (see https://twitter.com/steipete/status/1007428817579859969 https://twitter.com/steipete/status/1007428817579859969, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11599617 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11599617) but later fell out of favor and was replaced with react native and pure native rewrites.
- saagarjha 3y ago
  Massive shame, honestly. Interesting technology that basically got used once and then discarded.
- TazeTSchnitzel 3y ago
  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.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 3y ago
    *gave up
  - kridsdale3 3y ago
    The team was folded in to the VR/AR org (I presume to develop an applications API that the universe of app developers would be familiar with), but it floundered and went nowhere. I heard this from someone who was on the team, I was not allowed to actually join or work with them, because I had worked for Apple previously and they were afraid of the Andy Rubin issue, where iOS's actual source code existed in my brain, so theoretically Apple could sue Facebook.
mkolassa 3y ago
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 3y ago
  I haven't heard or see someone mentioning Defender Chronicles for a long time now
  - mkolassa 3y ago
    Definitely one of my all time favorites. I keep an iPad Mini 1st Gen around just for it. Sad that the sequel no longer works once their server went down.
- terrycody 3y ago
  But anywhere to find those vanished iAPs from old days?
flykespice 3y ago
The only one game I'm looking forward to play on this emulator is the long forgotten Bioshock 1 port
- jamesgeck0 3y ago
  What's the appeal of the iOS port over one of the PC versions?
  - LeonOmelan 3y ago
    Novelty
  - flykespice 3y ago
    Well for one being the only ever mobile port from the game, and I'm a big fan of the series.
tech234a 3y ago
The developers have begun asking for permission to legally redistribute some apps that are compatible with this emulator: https://touchhle.org/app-archive/ https://touchhle.org/app-archive/
lukeh 3y ago
Wow, whatever is going on (macros?) to write ObjC class implementations in Rust with a hybrid syntax is very, very clever.
- nneonneo 3y ago
  Yes, macros: https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/blob/trunk/src/objc/classes.rs#L184 https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/blob/trunk/src/ob....
qingcharles 3y ago
This is a good community for finding old iPhone apps and games: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/ https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/

141 points by bexsella 3y ago

Very interesting. The "why" context seems to be buried in an issue comment https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/issues/181#issuecomment-1777098259 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/ https://johnnybgamer.com/2009/08/13/distant-shore/

gmerc 3y ago
if this can run bookworm I am sold
- layer8 3y ago
  Not yet: https://appdb.touchhle.org/ https://appdb.touchhle.org/
kennywinker 3y ago
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"
slimsag 3y ago
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
layer8 3y ago
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.
- astrange 3y ago
  Everyone except game developers managed to come over just fine. This is a skill issue on the game devs' part that they can't stop themselves from doing bad pointer arithmetic. Note you can run 32-bit Windows games through WINE/Rosetta.

hoherd 3y ago

> 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.

callalex 3y ago

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 3y ago
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.
- dr_kiszonka 3y ago
  Perhaps it's a matter of priorities. Given how much more powerful today's iPhones are compared to those from 2009, Apple could run older apps in an emulator.
  - Shawnj2 3y ago
    There’s nearly 0 demand for this why is why you can’t do this. If there was this would either be an OS feature or a very popular third party app.
    - seeknotfind 3y ago
      Designing an app to emulate iOS games would be extemely difficult, let alone allowed on the app store. Backwards compatibility requires deep forethought and careful engineering as well as draconian enforcement. I think the technical difficulty plays a huge role here, when weighed against Apple's culture (sleek, minimalist) and the impact it would have on profit.

LegNeato 3y ago

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

saagarjha 3y ago
Massive shame, honestly. Interesting technology that basically got used once and then discarded.
TazeTSchnitzel 3y ago
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.
- TazeTSchnitzel 3y ago
  *gave up
- kridsdale3 3y ago
  The team was folded in to the VR/AR org (I presume to develop an applications API that the universe of app developers would be familiar with), but it floundered and went nowhere. I heard this from someone who was on the team, I was not allowed to actually join or work with them, because I had worked for Apple previously and they were afraid of the Andy Rubin issue, where iOS's actual source code existed in my brain, so theoretically Apple could sue Facebook.

mkolassa 3y ago

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 3y ago
I haven't heard or see someone mentioning Defender Chronicles for a long time now
- mkolassa 3y ago
  Definitely one of my all time favorites. I keep an iPad Mini 1st Gen around just for it. Sad that the sequel no longer works once their server went down.
terrycody 3y ago
But anywhere to find those vanished iAPs from old days?

flykespice 3y ago

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

jamesgeck0 3y ago
What's the appeal of the iOS port over one of the PC versions?
- LeonOmelan 3y ago
  Novelty
- flykespice 3y ago
  Well for one being the only ever mobile port from the game, and I'm a big fan of the series.

tech234a 3y ago

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

lukeh 3y ago

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

nneonneo 3y ago
Yes, macros: https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/blob/trunk/src/objc/classes.rs#L184 https://github.com/hikari-no-yume/touchHLE/blob/trunk/src/ob....

qingcharles 3y ago

This is a good community for finding old iPhone apps and games: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/ https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyJailbreak/