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How to Use Delta, the iPhone Game Emulator
Apr 30, 2024
Delta on App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/delta-game-emulator/id1048524688 Delta on AltStore PAL: https://altstore.io/#downloads Delta Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rileyshane If you want a game #emulator on #iPhone the Delta app is now available on the App Store to play games for #Nintendo DS, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, NES, SNES and N64. More Apple news: http://www.cultofmac.com Produced by Extra Ordinary for Cult of Mac Music composed by Will Davenport, arranged by D. Griffin Jones Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultofmac Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cultofmac Instagram: https://instagram.com/cultofmac/
View Video Transcript
0:00
Game emulators are finally on the iPhone
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on the regular app store. No need to jailbreak, no need to plug your phone into your computer
0:07
through a hacked together process. You can emulate Nintendo DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance
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Game Boy Color, NES, SNES, and N64 games on your iPhone. And best of all, it's mostly free and mostly legal
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This is all made possible thanks to Delta, which is an easy to use all-in-one emulator app for iPhone
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You can download it for free on the app store if you just click right there
0:35
In the European Union, however, there's an extra step you need to go through. Because of how Apple changed the app store rules
0:41
in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act, you first need to install an alternative app marketplace
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It's called AltStorePal. It costs just 1.50 Euro, and you can buy it from the project website
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Once you've got that on your phone, then you can install Delta for free
0:58
Now, because the Digital Markets Act only applies to the iPhone, there's not yet an iPad native version of the app
1:04
It's the iPhone app running in compatibility mode. The old, slightly more complicated method
1:10
of installing Delta through the original AltStore is still available if you have a PC
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or a Mac running macOS Ventura. It's free, but it has some drawbacks
1:21
mainly that if you don't have a paid Apple developer account, the apps expire after only seven days
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So, once you've installed Delta, you're gonna need to add some games
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In order to play games, you need what's called a ROM file
1:35
which is a digital version of the old physical cartridge. Now, legally speaking, if you own a game
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either if you bought it way back when in the 80s, or if you bought it used on eBay
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you are free, legally, completely, to make digital copies for your own personal use
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For all the most popular consoles, you can buy these game cartridge adapters
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like this one for the Super Nintendo or the Game Boy. You just plug your cartridge in
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and then on the other end, there's a USB cord that you can use to plug into your computer
2:05
or just your iPhone directly. You might need a lightning to USB adapter
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if you have an older iPhone, but you plug it in, you open the Files app, and then you go to the Browse tab
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and it'll appear just like a USB drive. Now, Illegal Gray Area assumes
2:20
that if you already own a copy of a game, you can skip the step
2:24
of buying the special hardware yourself, and go to one of those online ROM websites
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and download it relatively guilt-free. Murkier Gray Area assumes that if the original creators
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or studio, or company that developed the game in the first place no longer exists
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or if the game is no longer available to buy anywhere, that you can download it online, guilt-free
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knowing that you're not really taking money away from anyone. Now, where could you find such a website
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They come and go as various legal entities threaten them with legal action, and have them shut down
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but as of April 2024, my favorite is consoleroms.com. It's very easily navigable, very easy to use
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You search for what you're looking for. There's no minefield of ads that you need to click around
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So, you've downloaded Delta, you've downloaded all your favorite games, now it's time to add them to your library
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and start playing. You open Delta, you tap the plus icon in the upper right
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and you tap files. You navigate to the folder where you downloaded them
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and you can just tap one, and then you can tap select all in the bottom left corner
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to select everything, and tap open. It'll add them, and it'll sort them automatically by console
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You can swipe left and right to navigate your library. Just tap a game to launch it
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You have these gorgeous on-screen controls that mimic the look and feel of the original controller
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with haptic feedback. And just like a physical controller, you can roll your thumb between two buttons at once
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to press both simultaneously. And you can turn it sideways for a bigger screen
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with semi-transparent buttons on either side. Tap the menu button to go back to your library
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It'll automatically save the state of the game when you close it, or you can manually create a save state
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for better peace of mind. And when you launch a game, you can long press on it
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to look at your previously saved states that you wanna resume. So RPGs like Pokemon, Earthbound, Paper Mario
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are easy enough with the on-screen controls, but games like Tetris or Super Mario Brothers
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are quite a bit harder. And games like Mega Man and Super Mario 64
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are downright clumsy. Luckily, connecting a physical controller is really easy. If you already have a PlayStation, Xbox
4:40
or Nintendo controller, you can pair it to your iPhone over Bluetooth
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On your iPhone, go to settings, Bluetooth, and then with your controller, there's probably a button or two
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that you need to hold down to enter pairing mode. Connect it, and then when you open Delta
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the on-screen buttons have disappeared. That's your cue that it's taking input from the controller
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You can even connect multiple controllers at the same time for multiplayer games like Mario Kart, Mario Party
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or Super Smash Brothers. Now, crowding everybody around an iPhone will do in a pinch if you're on the go
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but it's not exactly ideal. But you can AirPlay your iPhone to an iPad, Mac
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or Apple TV to see your games on a bigger screen. And you can even go one step further than that
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for true authenticity. If you buy an old TV with a CRT
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you can also get an HDMI to RF modulator to plug it into the coaxial port on the back of your TV
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see that gorgeous 8-bit artwork as it was meant to be seen
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on a fuzzy, slightly dodgy CRT television. There's another way you can customize Delta
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to your liking as well. If you want your Nintendo DS games to match the dark red Nintendo DSi you had growing up
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or you want your Nintendo 64 games to match your green, transparent controller
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you can download skins online. Go to deltaskins.github.io, or you can click here for the link
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You can easily browse by console, and if you see a skin you like
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tap on it and tap download. Then you'll open the files app
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browse to where it downloaded, and tap on it to import it into Delta
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From here, you'll tap on settings in the top left, tap on the console, tap on the skin you want
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and then scroll to select it. Delta is a versatile emulator that's incredibly easy to use
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Links in the description where you can download it from the App Store or from Alt Store Pal
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and where I highly encourage you to donate to their Patreon that keeps the project running
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and available for everybody for free. Remember to like and subscribe. I'm Diegerfen Jones with Cult of Mac
#Computer & Video Games
#Consumer Electronics
#Games
#Sports Games
#Video Game Emulation
#Video Game Retailers