Apple is going to remove the iDOS 2 emulator from the App Store — get it while you can!

Idos On Ios Screenshots (Image credit: Chaoji Li)

What you need to know

Apple has told iDOS 2 developer Chaoji Li that the app will soon be removed from the App Store.
The emulator has been found to be in violation of an App Store rule that the developer cannot fix without removing functionality.

After receiving some publicity recently, the popular iDOS 2 emulation app is about to be removed from the App Store. Apple confirmed to developer Chaoji Li that iDOS 2 violates an App Store rule — and it can't be rectified without removing important functionality.

In a blog post yesterday, spotted by MacRumors, the app's developer said that Apple had rejected a new update because it violates App Store rule 2.5.2 — because iDOS 2 runs executable code.

During review, your app installed or launched executable code, which is not permitted on the App Store.Specifically, your app executes iDOS package and image files and allows iTunes File Sharing and Files support for importing games. Executing code can introduce or changes features or functionality of the app and allows for downloading of content without licensing.Please note that while educational apps designed to teach, develop, or allow students to test executable code may, in limited circumstances, download code, such code may not be used for other purposes and such apps must make the source code completely viewable and editable by the user.

As the developer points out, removing the functionality Apple is talking about would mean people who bought the app because of that functionality would be left worse off. So the app won't be updated at all, leaving Apple to remove it from the App Store. That's a huge shame because iDOS 2 has long been the best iPhone app for emulating games and even Windows, but all good things must come to an end.

Unless someone at Apple comes to their senses, of course. It's difficult to believe that this rejection hasn't come as a result of recent press coverage of the app — let's hope yet more coverage can see Apple do the right thing here. As Harry McCracken says — it's difficult to see who this app is hurting.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.