In an effort to make document management far less time-consuming, Adobe has confirmed the general availability of its latest AI tools designed to streamline document workflows.
The software company’s latest announcement addresses the tax season, which is currently underway worldwide. It marks the 25th anniversary of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) standardizing tax documents on PDF.
Adobe’s Acrobat AI Assistant is now generally available across Acrobat Reader, desktop, and web and will be available as an add-on subscription priced at $4.99 per month.
Acrobat AI Assistant is now available
Adobe says the full launch of its new generative AI assistant “bring[s] generative AI to the masses,” estimating that more than three trillion PDFs are in circulation worldwide.
The company hopes that its GenAI tool will transform users’ interactions with documents by providing features to extract key information, summarize content, and facilitate easier navigation within long documents.
Abhigyan Modi, SVP of Adobe Document Cloud, commented: “Acrobat AI Assistant empowers billions of people to shift from reading documents to having a conversation – enabling them to get insights and format and share content from all kinds of digital documents – quickly and easily.”
Besides being able to “chat with your PDFs,” Adobe also promises to deliver intelligent citations so that users can verify the source of generated content. The company also confirmed that it will not store or use customer data to train AI Assistants without consent.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
The add-on will be available to users with free Reader or paid Acrobat for individual plans in English only, and the early access pricing of $4.99 per month will remain in place until June 5, 2024. More languages are set to follow.
AI Assistant on Reader mobile is also available as a beta for a “limited time,” indicating that a mobile launch could be imminent.
Motorola now has a new big G series phone. The Moto G64 5G, the latest budget smartphone from the company offers some big features at a small price. The Moto G lineup has been around for several years now and is one of the most profitable for the manufacturer. With the new Moto G64, you get some world-first features as well, which is something Motorola also did with the recently launched Moto Edge 50 Pro.
The Moto G64 5G will succeed the Moto G54 from last year and comes with some new hardware. Here are my first impressions of the new G series phone after using it for a couple of days.
At first glance, the phone looks similar in design to the Moto G54 5G. You get a familiar rectangular rear camera module with dual sensors and an LED flash, a glossy acrylic glass rear panel, and thick plastic frame. The phone is also similar in thickness to last year’s model thanks to the large battery inside. From the outside, you would think that nothing much is new, and that appears to be the case.
The phone features Gorilla Glass protection on the display
On the front, you get a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display that offers full-HD+ resolution and 30-120Hz refresh rate, same as the Moto G54. What’s new, thanks to Motorola’s partnership with Corning, is a Gorilla Glass protection for the display. However, Motorola did not specify the version used. The display has a hole-punch cutout for the front camera, and thick bezels with a thicker chin just like its predecessor. The button placements are also the same. Like I said, on the outside, there’s nothing really new apart from the Gorilla Glass protection.
The phone is available in three colour options, and we’re testing out the Mint Green variant. The Moto G64 5G is also available in Pearl Blue and Ice Lilac colours. This time around, there’s no Black colour variant of the phone. The Moto G54 5G is also available in Pearl Blue and Mint Green colours, and they look exactly the same as the new phone.
The Moto G64 isn’t available in Black colour options
Coming to the cameras, the Moto G64 5G offers a 50-megapixel primary rear sensor with optical image stabilisation support. There’s also an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor at the back that also offers Macro support. In the short time I had with the phone, I found the main rear camera to take good photos in daylight conditions. You also get a 16-megapixel selfie camera up front. It’s nice that Motorola is providing two usable cameras on the phone instead of adding a third macro/depth sensor. Once again, the camera specifications are also similar to the predecessor.
On the connectivity front, Motorola has offered support for 14 5G bands, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, and an FM radio. The phone also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom. You get a dual speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support and a side mounted fingerprint scanner. The Moto G64 5G also gets a USB Type-C port, a hybrid SIM card tray with support for microSD card storage expansion, and dual microphones. It comes with an IP52 water-repellent rating as well.
The phone has a 16-megapixel camera
Now, so far, everything on the new G series phone appears to be the same as the older model, but there are some changes internally. The Moto G64 5G is the first phone to come equipped with the new MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC. The chipset is said to be faster than the older 7020 variant, but I’ll be checking that out in the full review. You also get up to 12GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. In the few days with the phone, I did not face any lag or stutter in the UI or animations as such, but I’ll have to test it further to find out how much better the new chipset is.
In terms of software, the Moto G64 5G runs Android 14-based My UX software. Unfortunately, the phone will receive only 1 major Android OS update. Motorola will provide 3 years of security updates. The software is mostly clean with some Motorola features and bloatware.
You get some bloatware on the phone
The Moto G64 5G comes with a large 6,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. The TurboPower charger is provided in the box. During my time using the phone I found the battery to be long lasting, but we’ll run more tests in the coming days to see how it holds up.
Motorola’s G series phones have always been good value for money, and the new Moto G64 5G appears to be doing the same. There’s not a lot of new features compared to the Moto G54 5G, but you do get better display protection and a slightly more powerful chipset. The phone starts at Rs. 14,999 for the base variant, which I think is a great deal. Should you purchase this phone? Stay tuned for the full review to find out.
The Motorola Edge 40 recently made its debut in the country as the successor to the Edge 30 that was launched last year. Should you buy this phone instead of the Nothing Phone 1 or the Realme Pro+? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
Redmi Pad SE was initially unveiled in select European markets in August 2023. Now the tablet is ready to make its debut in India. Xiaomi recently announced its Smarter Living 2024 event in India on April 23. In the announcement, the company teased the launch of four new products. One of those was speculated to be a tablet and an official teaser has now confirmed the upcoming launch of Redmi Pad SE in the country. It has also revealed the design, colourways and key features of the Indian variant of the model.
Xiaomi India announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the Redmi Pad SE will launch in India on April 23. The post also links to a Xiaomi microsite of the Indian variant of the tablet, which reveals some of its key features. The details revealed suggest that the Indian version of the Redmi Pad SE is likely to be similar to its global counterpart.
The Redmi Pad SE is teased to launch in India in three colourways — green, grey and lavender. It is globally available in these shades as well. The design seen of the Indian variant of the tablet also remains unchanged from its European version. It is confirmed to feature an 11-inch full-HD+ (1,900 x 1,200 pixels) LCD screen with up to 90Hz refresh rate and TÜV Rheinland low blue light certification.
The Indian variant of the Redmi Pad SE is confirmed to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC and is claimed to offer a battery life of up to 14 hours of video playback time or up to 219 hours of music playback time. It is also said to have a standby battery life of up to 43 days. The tablet is also teased to support multi-tasking with its split screen and floating windows features.
The price details of the Redmi Pad SE Indian variant have not yet been revealed. For reference, the tablet started at EUR 199 (roughly Rs. 18,000) for the 4GB + 128GB option in select European markets, while the 6GB + 128GB and the 8GB + 128GB variants were priced at EUR 229 (roughly Rs. 20,800) and EUR 249 (roughly Rs. 22,600), respectively.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
iQoo Z9 series is confirmed to go official in China on April 24. While the Vivo sub-brand has only mentioned the iQoo Z9 and iQoo Z9 Turbo, the upcoming lineup could include the iQoo Z9x as well, as per recent reports. Just a week ahead of the official debut, a tipster has leaked the key specifications of the iQoo Z9 series smartphones. All three phones are said to come with dual rear cameras and 80W fast charging support. The iQoo Z9x is tipped to run on Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, while the iQoo Z9 Turbo is already confirmed to ship with Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC.
Tipster Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24), in association with 91Mobiles, has leaked the specifications of iQoo Z9 Turbo, iQoo Z9 and iQoo Z9x. As per the report, the iQoo Z9x will get a 6.72-inch 120Hz LCD screen, while the iQoo Z9 and iQoo Z9 Turbo could feature a 6.78-inch 144Hz AMOLED panel.
All three models are said to pack dual rear cameras led by 50-megapixel primary sensor. The iQoo Z9 and iQoo Z9x are tipped to feature 2-megapixel portrait sensors, the iQoo Z9 Turbo is likely to carry an 8-megapixel ultrawide snapper. The iQoo Z9x could sport an 8-megapixel selfie shooter, while the vanilla iQoo Z9 and the Turbo variant might get a 16-megapixel front camera.
iQoo has already confirmed that the iQoo Z9 Turbo will run on Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC. The tipster claims that the iQoo Z9x will have a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC under the hood. The iQoo Z9 might feature a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC. The Indian variant of iQoo Z9 5G shipped with MediaTek Dimensity 7200 5G SoC.
The iQoo Z9x and the vanilla iQoo Z9 could feature LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. The iQoo Turbo, in contrast, is said to include LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.
The iQoo Z9 Turbo is already confirmed to house a 6,000mAh battery. The leak suggests the same battery call for the other two iQoo Z9 series phones. The iQoo Z9 Turbo and iQoo Z9 are said to offer 80W fast charging support, while the iQoo Z9x could come with 40W charging speed.
iQoo already announced that the iQoo Z9 and iQoo Z9 Turbo will be launched in China on April 24 at 7pm local time (4:30pm IST). The standard iQoo Z9 5G was released in India last month with a price tag of Rs. 19,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
Maserati, the Italian purveyor of luxury sports cars, is continuing its push into electrification with the announcement of a soft-top version of its recent Granturismo Folgore model.
Folgore, which is the Italian word for lightning, will come to encompass an entire range of electrified luxury vehicles, which already includes the previously mentioned GT and the Grecale Folgore – a mid-sized SUV with the Italian marque’s trademark opulent interior and a 0-62mph sprint time of just 4.1 seconds.
The convertible Grancabrio, as it is called, shares much of its underpinnings with the £190,000 ($215,000 / AUS$350,000) hard top Granturismo Folgore that was unveiled earlier late last year. As a result, it features a 300kW (around 402bhp) motor driving the front axle and two similarly powerful units at the rear that combine to produce 751bhp (818bhp with max boost mode enabled) and a massive 996lb-ft of torque.
(Image credit: Maserati)
The output to each motor is limited due to the fact that the 83kWh battery has a discharge limit to protect its longevity, although the Italian marque claims the system could be pushed further in the future as the tech moves on. However, the electrified Grancabrio still manages to dispatch a 0-62mph sprint in just 2.8 seconds.
These battery packs are neatly laid-out in a ‘T-bone’ pattern that runs along the center of the floor and then spreads out under the rearmost seats. It uses an 800V electrical architecture, which means it can charge at rates of up to 270kW for rapid top-ups on the move.
According to Maserati, the sleek electric soft-top can be charged for 20 to 80 per cent in around 18 minutes from the fastest outlets – the equivalent of around 60 miles for every five minutes of charging time.
Maserati launches its Grancabrio Folgore. Is this the first truly desirable electrified EV? It certainly looks like it pic.twitter.com/UIWc6U5impApril 15, 2024
See more
The folding fabric roof is the same that is used in the petrol-powered Grancabrio, which can electronically retract in around 14 seconds and at speeds of up to 31mph.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the TechRadar team.
Although largely similar to its petrol-powered counterpart, the Grancabrio Folgore has a bespoke, copper-inspired paint job, as well as a distinct grille that is essentially the inverse of the slatted face found on the V6-powered version.
“We don’t want to create faceless cars like lots of other start-ups,” Maserati head of design Klaus Busse said at the Folgore launch event in Bologna, referencing the fact that this electrified version remains instantly recognizable, or a “rolling sculpture” as Busse puts it.
(Image credit: Maserati)
To combat the lack of an inimitable Ferrari-derived V6 soundtrack, engineers set about deconstructing the frequencies of its famous petrol engine and then blending this with the higher frequencies created by Folgore’s inverters. The noise is then pumped through the internal Sonus faber sound system and outside through external speakers.
The interior will be available in classic leather trims, but it also embraces modern fabrics, such as recycled Nylon, which uses innovative digital laser etching techniques to create tangible patterns in seat covers.
Analysis: Italy puts the passion into EVs
(Image credit: Maserati)
Maserati is proud to be among the first of the so-called ‘legacy’ premium automakers to offer a fully electric version of its entire range of potent and decidedly expensive cars.
Where the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini have either dabbled with battery power in mild hybrid variants – or teased way-off EV concepts in Lamborghini’s case – Maserati has set its course and committed to making the transition, delivering pure EVs much sooner than its rivals.
Currently, only the MG Cyberster can compete in the convertible, battery EV sports car market, but it doesn’t exactly have the same global appeal as the Italian marque’s famous Trident badge.
Davide Grasso, Maserati’s current CEO, wouldn’t commit to predicted sales figures for Grancabrio Folgore, simply stating that Maserati intends to produce “one less than customers demand”, in reference to the tactic employed by other makers of luxury goods.
But with China making up a large proportion of annual Maserati sales, it is going to have to push its racing heritage and status as one of the world’s most recognized luxury brands to the next level in order to fend off competition from domestic manufacturers, such as XPeng and YangWang – both of which have proven they can produce the power outputs, even if they fall short of being truly desirable.
China’s Baidu said on Tuesday its artificial intelligence chatbot “Ernie Bot” has garnered more than 200 million users as it seeks to remain China’s most popular ChatGPT-like chatbot amid increasingly fierce competition.
The number of users has roughly doubled since the company’s last update in December. The chatbot was released to the public eight months ago.
Baidu CEO Robin Li also said Ernie Bot’s application programming interface (API) is being used 200 million times everyday, meaning the chatbot was requested by its user to conduct tasks that many times a day.
The number of enterprise clients for the chatbot reached 85,000, Li said at a conference in Shenzhen.
In February, he told analysts Baidu was starting to generate revenue from Ernie, and in the fourth quarter the company had earned several hundred million yuan using AI to improve its ad services and help other companies build their own models.
Last March, Ernie Bot was the first locally developed ChatGPT-like chatbot to be announced in China, but it only won approval for public release in August, one of the first eight AI chatbots that Beijing approved.
Unlike many other countries, China requires companies to obtain approval before rolling out generative AI services.
Recent data shows that rival domestic AI services, particularly the “Kimi” chatbot from a 12-month-old, Alibaba-backed start-up named Moonshot AI, are quickly catching up with Ernie Bot.
Ernie Bot was visited a total of 14.9 million times across its app and website last month, while Kimi had a total of 12.6 million visits in the same month, data from AIcpb.com, a site that tracks user visits to online AI services, showed.
And Kimi was growing much faster, with visits jumping 321.6% in March from February, while the number of visits to Ernie Bot grew more than 48%, the data showed.
Globally, Chinese generative AI services still lag far behind their Western counterparts. According to AIcpb.com, OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the world’s most popular generative AI service, with total traffic growing 9% to reach 1.86 billion views last month.
In recent months, China has accelerated approvals for AI services after highlighting AI as a key area in tech where China will have to compete with the U.S. Last week, state media reported 117 large AI models have received approvals so far.
Windows 11 users are now receiving the Moment 5 update, which began rolling out a week ago, but some folks have sadly been hit by some frustrating glitches – including a ‘white screen’ crash.
Windows Latest picked up on a few problems with the April cumulative update for Windows 11, including some folks getting installation failures.
This is a long-running gremlin in the works whereby the update process falls over and doesn’t install, producing an error that is essentially meaningless garbage. (Or as Microsoft calls it, a stop error code – a hexadecimal string such as ‘0x800705b9’ which is one of the codes spotted in this instance).
That gives you no clue as to how to resolve the problem, and trying to install again results in the same crash happening with the Moment 5 update. About all you can do is sit tight and hope Microsoft resolves the issue, for now, or try upgrading via the Media Creation Tool. (Which we wouldn’t recommend to anyone but the more tech-savvy readers out there – if you don’t know what this tool is, best to steer clear on balance).
The other major stumbling block with this April update is a problem that sounds like the white equivalent of the famed Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) whereby the PC is locked up and needs to be rebooted to get back to normal.
Windows Latest describes what they encountered, which is after installing Moment 5 successfully, they got stuck on a white screen. This looks like some kind of setup screen, or indeed one of the panels trying to push you to do something post-update – like finishing setting up Windows or your Microsoft Account – except it’s blank (save for a couple of tiny icons).
The website notes that they were able to boot to the desktop after disconnecting the internet, and fortunately for Windows Latest, the white screen didn’t return after that.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the TechRadar team.
There’s also evidence of this issue on Reddit and this thread on Microsoft’s Answers.com help forum, where some folks are saying this white screen keeps coming back.
So, while Windows Latest found it was an issue that went away swiftly, others apparently aren’t so lucky. So we’re calling this the ‘white screen of doom’ as it appears to be persistent at least for some, which must be a real pain.
(Image credit: Max7192 (Microsoft Answers.com))
Analysis: Unplug the internet
What’s interesting to note is that one of the affected people on Answers.com states: “The only thing working for me atm is to start the computer without internet and I don’t get the white screen.” Somebody else replies that they tried this and it worked.
Windows Latest also observes disconnecting from the internet worked to sidestep the white screen, so this is definitely something you should give a whirl if you’re affected by this problem.
This lends some credibility to the idea that this is some kind of nag panel, and it’s failing to pipe through the content from Microsoft’s servers, perhaps – and when you pull the plug on the internet, it stops trying and finally loads the desktop. (That’s purely wild guesswork, mind you).
It’s also worth noting that on the above Reddit thread, there are some consistent mentions of problems with PCs resuming from sleep (or monitors turning back on after waking the system). So that might be one to watch out for, too.
Hopefully, Microsoft is looking into the reports of these problems and will be on hand with some official advice soon enough. We’ve reached out to the company and will update this article with any response to the apparent problems with the April update. Currently, the official support document from Microsoft lists no known issues with Moment 5.
A new Helldivers 2 patch has been deployed, finally fixing the CE-27 Ground Breaker armor.
Version 01.000.203 arrives for PlayStation 5 and PC today (April 16) just a few days after the release of the game’s Premium Warbond, called Democratic Detonation, which added a bunch of new weapons and armor, including the CE-27 Ground Breaker medium armor set.
Players were quick to notice, however, that the Ground Breaker wasn’t working as intended, confusing Helldivers, as it was supposed to include the Engineering Kit passive as opposed to the Servo-Assisted passive.
Arrowhead Game Studios later confirmed that this was a mixup that occurred when releasing the Warbond and explained in a Discord post that it would be fixing the issue in a future update.
“Regarding the CE-27 Ground Breaker armor, we’re aware of a slight mixup that resulted in it going live with the Servo-Assisted passive instead of the Engineering Kit passive as advertised,” community manager Spitz wrote (via GamesRadar). “This should be changed back in an upcoming hotfix – please keep this in mind if this armor is one of the reasons you’re thinking of purchasing the new warbond!”
With the latest update, the error has been resolved and successfully replaces Servo-Assisted with the Engineering Kit passive, so now the medium armor set should work as originally designed.
Alongside some more stability improvements, the patch also addresses a long list of crashing issues, as well as a bug that resulted in different damage being dealt between PC and console players. You can read the full patch notes below.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the TechRadar team.
Helldivers 2 version 01.000.203 patch notes:
Overview
Fixes to armor passive.
Various improvements to stability.
Gameplay
CE-27 Ground Breaker armor now has the Engineer kit passive as previously advertised.
Fixes
Crash Fixes:
Fixed multiple crashes that could occur in the loadout screen when other players left or joined the game.
Fixed multiple crashes that could occur after extraction when the mission results and rewards were shown.
Fixed crash which could occur when throwing back a grenade while wielding a heat-based weapon.
Fixed crash that could occur when hosting a play session migrates to another player.
Fixed crash that could occur if too many civilians spawn.
Fixed various other crashes that could occur when deploying to mission.
Fixed various other crashes that could occur during gameplay.
Other Fixes
Fixed an issue that resulted in different damage being dealt enemies between PC and console players.
Red boxes in defense missions are no longer visible.
Major orders should now properly display text.
Known Issues
These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed. This list is not exhaustive, and we are continuing to identify issues and create fixes. These are organized by feedback, reports, severity, etc.
Superior Packing Methodology ship module does not work properly.
Players may be unable to navigate to the search results in the Social Menu.
Various issues involving friend invites and cross play:
Player name may show up blank on the other player’s friend list.
Friend Request cannot be accepted when the requesting player changed their username before the request was accepted.
Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the Friend Requests tab.
Players cannot unfriend players befriended via friend code.
Players cannot unblock players that were not in their Friends list beforehand.
Damage-over-time effects may only apply when dealt by the host.
Players may experience delays in Medals and Super Credits payouts.
Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
Certain weapons like Sickle cannot shoot through foliage.
Scopes on some weapons such as the Anti-Materiel Rifle are slightly misaligned.
Arc weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire.
Spear’s targeting is inconsistent, making it hard to lock-on to larger enemies.
Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
Explosions do not break your limbs (except for when you fly into a rock).
Area around Automaton Detector Tower makes blue stratagems such as the hellbomb bounce and be repelled when trying to call them down close to the tower.
Planet liberation reaches 100% at the end of every Defend mission.
In an era where convenience and security go hand in hand, Google is taking a significant step forward. Android users are soon to experience a revamped Play Store purchase verification system, with biometric authentication poised to replace the traditional Google Account password.
As part of its ongoing effort to bolster security and user experience, Google is proactively reaching out to Android users. The company has begun emailing users about an impending change that aims to streamline the purchase verification process through the adoption of biometric verification.
Currently, enabling “Biometric verification” in the Play Store involves navigating to Play Store settings, selecting Purchase verification, and toggling on the Biometric verification option. This requires users to input their Google Account password. However, Google’s forthcoming update promises to make this process even more straightforward.
Soon, Android users will be able to use their fingerprint or face recognition to confirm their purchase verification preference. This change is a clear indication of Google’s commitment to integrating advanced biometric technology into its ecosystem, enhancing both security and user convenience.
Google elaborated on this upcoming modification in an email titled “Your Google Play purchase verification settings.” The email informs users that “in the coming weeks, there will be a change in how you confirm your setting when you choose biometric verification.”
Encouraging users to prioritise security, Google emphasises the importance of enabling purchase verification for every transaction. To facilitate this, the Play Store will offer three verification frequency options: Always, Every 30 minutes, or Never. This flexibility ensures that users can customise their security settings according to their preferences and usage patterns.
Cautionary Note from Google
However, with the convenience of biometric verification comes a word of caution from Google. The company advises users to exercise discretion when storing biometric data, especially concerning children or others. Biometric data stored on a device could potentially be used for purchase verification. Hence, it’s crucial to handle such sensitive information with care and avoid sharing passwords to maintain the integrity and security of your account.
One more thing! We are now on WhatsApp Channels! Follow us there so you never miss any updates from the world of technology. To follow the HT Tech channel on WhatsApp, click here to join now!
Fancy playing some old-school Game Boy titles on your iPhone but not sure if downloading the games violates any regulations? Well, you’re in luck, as Apple has just clarified its rules on emulators, and the outcome might not be what you were expecting.
Over the weekend, a new Game Boy emulator named iGBA was uploaded to Apple’s App Store. However, it was swiftly taken down by Apple, with the company saying the app violated its App Review Guidelines, specifically those relating to spam and copyright.
That might have created the impression that Apple did not want Game Boy emulators appearing in its App Store, something that makes sense considering Nintendo’s strict policy against emulators. But it turns out Apple didn’t take down iGBA because it was breaching copyright rules by emulating Game Boy games – it did it because it flagrantly ripped off another app.
As it transpires, iGBA is a carbon copy of GBA4iOS, another Game Boy emulator designed for iOS, and Apple apparently told MacRumors that it removed the app for this reason. The developer of iGBA simply took GBA4iOS, inserted some ads into the app, then sent it off to the App Store, which was a clear violation of Apple’s policies. But where do you stand if you want to play some retro Game Boy games on your iPhone? Will Apple allow these apps? The answer seems to be yes – for now.
Retro emulators get the green light
(Image credit: Luis Quintero / Pexels)
According to MacRumors, Apple clarified that “emulators on the App Store are permitted to load ROMs downloaded from the web, so long as the app is emulating retro console games only.” It’s not clear what exactly qualifies as a “retro console game,” but it appears that Game Boy titles come under this remit.
Apple updated its App Review Guidelines earlier in April to explicitly allow retro game console emulators, and the first such examples started appearing just a day or two ago. However, Apple says that developers “are responsible for all such software” and must comply with “all applicable laws.”
Apple told MacRumors that it initially approved iGBA’s functionality before it realized the app was a knockoff. So, as expected, it seems Apple sees nothing wrong with Game Boy emulators as a concept (providing they are limited to old games).
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis, deals and more from the TechRadar team.
We doubt Nintendo will be too happy about the situation, though, as the company explicitly states on its U.S. customer support website that it does not permit emulators: “Pirate copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs”. The uploading and downloading of pirate copies of Nintendo games is illegal.”
For now, it looks like Apple will allow Game Boy emulators on its App Store, which is great news if you want to get your nostalgia fix without leaving your iPhone. But how long this situation will last is anyone’s guess.
