Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The lead developer of popular multi-platform emulator Provenance has confirmed it is coming to the App Store.
- Provenance supports a slew of consoles that, as of now, have no representation on the App Store.
- This is just the beginning, as we expect a deluge of emulators to come to the App Store this year.
Recently, Apple surprised us all by quietly changing the rules of the App Store to allow emulators. Previously, emulating consoles and other systems on iPhones meant needing to sideload programs, but no longer. Now, we’re already seeing emulators landing on the platform, but today’s news is a really big one.
Provenance, the popular multi-platform emulator for iOS and tvOS, is officially coming to the App Store. Speaking with iMore, lead developer Joseph Mattiello said his team “are working on a release.” However, he did clarify: “I need to investigate these new rules before an App Store submission, and to improve some quality-of-life issues. Also, I need to change some things to adhere to the App Store’s rules, such as mentioning ‘beta.’” In other words, it might be a while before Provenance actually ends up on Apple’s first-party store.
Regardless, when it does land, Provenance will be a huge boon for emulation fiends. Like the mega-popular emulation suite RetroArch, Provenance offers a slew of emulation services inside one package. That means this one program can emulate dozens of consoles, including many popular Nintendo and Sony platforms. You can see a complete list of what Provenance currently offers at the link. You’ll also see there that Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and Sega Dreamcast support is currently in development.
For now, using Provenance on an iPhone requires sideloading it, a process that most iPhone users will not be familiar with. Having the app on the App Store will introduce millions of people to emulation on iPhones who probably have never done it before.
Now that the doors are open, we expect emulators to start coming to iPhones at a frantic pace.