Apple has reversed course from its prior policy, allowing a PC emulator onto the iPhone and iPad App Store for the first time. The app, called UTE SE, can emulate DOS, Windows, and Mac operating systems. You can now download it for free.
The developers, UTM, announced the app’s approval on X/Twitter. The tweets thanked several collaborators for their assistance. One read, “Shoutouts to AltStore team for their help and to Apple for reconsidering their policy.” A follow-up tweet thanked a tagged collaborator “whose QEMU TCTI implementation was pivotal for this JIT-less build.”
Playing Doom on your phone with UTE SE.
The app itself doesn’t come with an operating systems out of box, much like other emulators on the App Store. It does include pre-built virtual machines that you can download, such as Linux, MacOS 9.2.1, and DOS. It also links to UTM’s website, which has instructions for emulating Windows XP through Windows 11. The App Store description claims UTE SE can emulate x86, PPC, and RISC-V architectures. Additionally, the app has a VGA mode for graphics emulation and a terminal mode for text-only operating systems.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple previously rejected the app because only retro game emulators were allowed. Though a PC emulator has wider applications than a console emulator, one of its primary uses is to play older games. Apple has not released a comment on its apparent change of policy. Game console emulators have topped the charts on iOS and Apple TV.
