Riley Testut’s Delta emulator app has been all the rage recently after an App Store policy change finally permitted retro game emulator apps such as his to be available in the App Store.
A positive change no doubt, as it allows more users to take advantage of Delta without having to use sideloading methods, such as AltStore or Sideloadly, which are both inconvenient because of the seven-day Apple ID signing requirements.
Emulator apps such as Delta allow avid gamers to load ROM files from their favorite games and play them on device just like they were using the actual game console. Of course, getting those ROMs is a nuanced process, as simply downloading unauthorized distributions from the internet constitutes piracy.
But as many have noticed, Delta is an iPhone-only app (and iPod touch, if you still have one of those). Those with iPads have noticed that Delta lacks a native iPad user interface, and instead defaults to iPhone mode on those devices.
Fortunately, acceptance into the App Store has encouraged Testut to speed up Delta’s iPad development, and as such, an iPad version of the app is now in the works. The developer announced this in a post shared to Threads over the weekend and gave us an initial sneak peek.
According to the post, the iPad version of Delta has been under development for a while and it’s almost ready. Testut is finishing up support for controller skins and squashing some last-minute bugs before it’s officially ready.
Delta for iPad wasn’t originally prioritized because it was originally only supposed to launch in the EU via AltStore PAL, but now that it’s available in the App Store in the United States, it only seemed logical to release it worldwide.
So when will Delta for iPad come? Perhaps sooner than you might think. Existing Patreon members have access to it right now via regular AltStore sideloading, and it will come to more users in an official update via the App Store in the upcoming version 1.6 release. This is being touted as Delta’s next major update.
In a follow-up post, Testut said he was also working on device-to-device multiplayer for games, but that getting iPad support out first was a priority. That said, device-to-device multiplayer will take some more time and the wait will be well worth it.
In any case, if you’re an existing Delta user, all you need to do is hang tight and wait for the iPad update to come out. Those wanting to give the iPhone version a try right now can get it for free from the App Store.
Also see: How to load game ROMs in the Delta emulator app
Are you excited to learn that the well-received Delta emulator app is coming to the iPad? Let us know why or why not in the comments section down below.