Apple at 49 & Delta Emulator at 10: Riley Testut on Emulation’s Future, Nintendo, & App Store Changes
Delta 1.7 is now available with Nintendo DS online multiplayer support
49 years ago today, Apple Computer was set up by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. However, I don't think Jobs would have approved this issue, nor will Wozniak if he comes across this, as I'm about to praise a category that was likely banned by Jobs in 2008 when the App Store launched.
Delta is a free emulator I've used ever since it was known as GBA4iOS — it was mainly why I used to jailbreak my iPhone 6 in 2014 so I could use it. Since then, I've spoken to its developer, Riley Testut, at TechRadar and iMore several times. He even came on to PAL KEYS in 2019 to chat about it all.
For those unaware, Delta lets you play games from several consoles and handhelds, such as NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. After Apple changed its rules in April 2024, allowing emulators like Delta and Provenance to be made available on the App Store, it wasn't long until users could download it without jailbreaking their devices.
Now that 1.7, Delta's latest update, is available, it comes with a bunch of fixes and enhancements, but the main focus is wireless multiplayer for compatible Nintendo DS games. I've been able to try the feature out in the past week before it was made available yesterday (March 31). In addition, I've had a quick chat with Testut below to mark Delta's big release.
WFC lives!
I never owned a Nintendo DS when it was out, but I clearly remember it being angled as a 'test' device, while the Game Boy would live on. However, not even Nintendo expected how successful this dual-screen handheld would be in 2004.
21 years later, and I'm playing a multiplayer match in Mario Kart DS on my iPhone, thanks to support for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC). This was the company's first foray into wireless multiplayer for its handheld and for the Nintendo Wii in 2005. It allowed a bunch of games to connect to the internet that enabled online multiplayer. This ranged from Advance Wars to Pokémon, and yes, Mario Kart. The WFC shut down in 2014, but it's thanks to some in the community that were able to keep the service going, which has enabled Delta to revive WFC for compatible DS games.
It's simple enough — you go to Settings > Core Settings > Nintendo DS > WFC Server. Select one of the three servers listed, then launch a compatible game.
Once a multiplayer match is selected, Delta does the rest, making the process impressively straightforward. I've been playing races in Mario Kart DS and Diddy Kong Racing DS with no issues. Combine this with a controller like Backbone or Razer Kishi, and you're using a Nintendo DS made for 2025.
Now that Delta 1.7 is available to all, I spoke to Testut about how multiplayer came to be, and what could be next for the emulator.
A Brimful of Delta
Was online multiplayer always the plan for Delta, or did it emerge as a feature over time?
It was always a feature I wanted to add at some point, but once we released Delta in the App Store, it became a much bigger priority based on feedback (it was by far the most requested feature!).
Were there any challenges in getting it to this point?
By default, setting up Nintendo WFC requires users to manually configure DNS in the game itself. Even with detailed instructions, this was quite tedious and overly technical for users, so we spent a lot of time making setup as easy as possible. For the public release of Delta 1.7, we’ve made it so users can simply choose one of several known community servers in Delta’s settings, and then Delta will configure everything behind the scenes to make it “just work”.
How did it feel when the first multiplayer match sprung to life and you were playing a game online in Delta?
Honestly, pretty magical. The first game I got working was Mario Kart DS, and when it first matched me with a random player, it instantly took me back to playing Mario Kart online as a 10-year-old kid. I even almost won the race!
We’re almost a year on since Apple’s change of heart for allowing emulators. Do you feel Apple has been more approachable since, or is there still a feeling of dragging their heels?
We haven’t had any major issues with Delta, but as a whole, it seems Apple is being as obtuse as ever with regard to other emulators (e.g. MAME4iOS).
You and Shane have experiences with Apple more than most — however, is there anything you hope to see to help AltStore, and perhaps Delta’s cause in the future?
JIT! Everyone wants it, and we’ve been discussing it extensively with the European Commission. So I can’t say anything for certain, but I’m hopeful official support for JIT will come eventually.
To note: JIT (Just In Time) is a compiler that can translate code on the fly, meaning any game run in an emulator, is translated quickly to run better on the device it's operating on. Emulators on AltStore PAL, Testut's third-party app store that's available in certain countries, support JIT. This means Dreamcast emulator Flycast and more can run far faster than what's available in Apple's App Store.
Although this is recreating what came before from Nintendo, has it inspired you to look into ‘unofficial’ multiplayer support for Game Boy, GBA, and N64?
It’s certainly something we want to do! We haven’t actually begun investigating anything yet, though, so I can’t say how feasible that would be yet.
A personal question — I find it strange that no emulator on the App Store supports Sega's Dreamcast consle — surely it doesn’t need JIT to run well? Having said that, are there any plans for Dreamcast support in the future? And if not, are there other systems/handhelds you’re considering for a future release?
Alas, I think JIT is needed to run Dreamcast well, so no we don’t have plans to add Dreamcast support ourselves to Delta at the moment. However, Flycast is available on AltStore Classic and emulates Dreamcast (with JIT), so if JIT is ever allowed officially you should be able to install that easily. As for Delta, we’re planning to release Sega Genesis support with the next update (Delta 1.8) and we’d love to add 3DS support eventually, but unfortunately most other systems we’re interested in — including 3DS — require JIT to run well on current devices.
Many thanks to Riley for taking the time to chat with me.
Considering I've been using emulators since 1999, Delta is one of the best in the category that I've ever used. Its user interface is powerful yet simple, the controller skins don't get in the way of playing a game, and using features like save states and cheats are just a couple of button presses away.
But I have to say, using a controller completely elevates using emulators on an iPhone, and it's not just to Delta. Provenance, Gamma, and VirtualFriend all work fantastically with them, and they're at a point where they're very easy to pop into a backpack and take one out when you're about to go on a long commute.
WFC support in Delta only elevates this, and I'm looking forward to playing more games from my childhood in Delta 1.8 with Genesis support. It's a stark contrast to how far emulators have come since 2014, and with the potential of 3DS support in Delta's future, I'm looking forward to seeing how emulation grows even further for iPhone, iPad, and more.
Thanks for reading.
