The open source emulator iDOS 3 is now available on the App Store. It lets you play many classic DOS games such as DOOM, SimCity 2000 and Fallout 1.
Apple initially rejected the iDOS app, but developer Chaoji Li resubmitted it after the company changed its policy and allowed PC emulator apps. However, there’s always the chance that the App Store review team could change its mind and make iDOS ineligible for the App Store again. In a blog post, he said, “As much as I want to celebrate, I can’t help but be a little cautious about the future.”
You can download iDOS 3 for 99 cents from the App Store and run PC classics on your iPhone and iPad, including early versions of Microsoft Word, the classic city-building simulation games SimCity and SimCity 2000, the first Fallout game, and more. Doom 1 and 2 also run on DOS, but you’ll get a better experience with the modern mobile ports. You’ll need to provide your own copies of classic PC titles, the emulator comes without any software.
The emulator includes a PC-style on-screen keyboard with a landscape slider and a virtual D-pad with key bindings. iDOS also supports Bluetooth keyboards and wireless controllers paired with an iPhone or iPad.
Emulators have been frowned upon since the App Store’s inception, but Apple recently updated the App Store guidelines to allow mini-apps, mini-games, streaming games, chatbots, plug-ins, and game emulators. “In addition, retro game console and PC emulator apps may offer game downloads,” says App Store Policy 4.7. In theory, iDOS should stay as long as it doesn’t violate the new rules, but Apple’s enforcement of App Store guidelines isn’t perfect.
iDOS is not the first PC emulator app to be added to the App Store. That would be UTM SE, which was approved earlier this month. UTM SE can run virtual machines for old versions of Windows, Linux or macOS, either created by itself or downloaded from the UTM Gallery.
Source: Chaoji Li, The Verge
