Many people need more clarification about how this passed App Review, and some are bringing up 2.5.2 of the guidelines.
This doesn't meet the 2.5.2 prohibition for reasons explained elsewhere[0], and it shows a misunderstanding about which guidelines prevent commonly desired emulators.
Emulators are generally barred mainly under the intellectual property guidelines[1] in §5.2 because most emulators require copyrighted bios files to run. Some other emulators were yanked after a DMCA request, and again, others were yanked because they were disguised as other apps.
ScummVM doesn't suffer from these issues at face value, but their more significant problem is that they're licensed under GPLv3, and Apple has an unofficial policy of not allowing GPL(v3) on the App Store thanks to a gambit the FSF[2] tried to pull that blew up in their face.
They tried to force Apple to change their App Store terms by submitting an app licensed under GPL, then turned around and complained that Apple’s App Store doesn’t comply with the GPL license because it does not distribute the app without DRM and other restrictions.
Apple’s response was to remove the app and adopt a silent policy of not allowing GPL apps (and other apps with a license that collides with the App Store ToS and license).
This doesn't meet the 2.5.2 prohibition for reasons explained elsewhere[0], and it shows a misunderstanding about which guidelines prevent commonly desired emulators.
Emulators are generally barred mainly under the intellectual property guidelines[1] in §5.2 because most emulators require copyrighted bios files to run. Some other emulators were yanked after a DMCA request, and again, others were yanked because they were disguised as other apps.
ScummVM doesn't suffer from these issues at face value, but their more significant problem is that they're licensed under GPLv3, and Apple has an unofficial policy of not allowing GPL(v3) on the App Store thanks to a gambit the FSF[2] tried to pull that blew up in their face.
They tried to force Apple to change their App Store terms by submitting an app licensed under GPL, then turned around and complained that Apple’s App Store doesn’t comply with the GPL license because it does not distribute the app without DRM and other restrictions.
Apple’s response was to remove the app and adopt a silent policy of not allowing GPL apps (and other apps with a license that collides with the App Store ToS and license).
0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38826426
1: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#int...
2: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/more-about-the-app-store...