Popular Delta Retro Game Emulator Coming to iPad - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Popular Delta Retro Game Emulator Coming to iPad

Game emulator Delta has made a splash on iPhone following Apple's recently announced App Store support for retro game emulators, and now the developer Riley Testut has confirmed that Delta is almost ready for its iPad debut.


In a post shared on Threads over the weekend, Testut said the iPad version is "near completion," with just controller skins to finish and some bug fixes to iron out.

Testut explained that Delta for iPad had not originally been a development priority because the plan was to limit the emulator's launch to the EU via alternative app marketplace AltStore PAL, which doesn't support iPad.

However, in a reversal of a years-old policy, Apple earlier this month announced that it would allow retro game emulators on the ‌App Store‌. Delta was therefore made available on the App Store as a free download in the United States and other countries on April 17, with users supporting the developer via Patreon.

Delta has been hugely popular since its debut on the App Store and the emulator has been a constant presence in the Top Charts, with users flocking to play retro games that originally appeared on NES, SNES, N64, Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance.


Delta works with popular game controllers, and supports cheats, save states, backups, syncing, and more. Other features include an option to fast forward, a "hold" button for games where a button needs to be consistently held, support for Haptic Touch, and box art for imported games. Local multiplayer gaming is available on iPhone, and up to four players can participate. A future version of Delta will also include SEGA Genesis support, according to Testut.

iPad support will arrive when Delta 1.6 hits the App Store, but Patreon supporters don't have to wait and can grab Delta 1.6 now.

Popular Stories

iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Sunday March 29, 2026 8:18 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said. Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
Apple Apps Grid

Apple Releasing Two New iPhone Apps This Year

Saturday March 28, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release two new iPhone apps this year, including an Apple Business app and a Siri app with chatbot-like functionality. With the Apple Business app, employees at businesses using the new Apple Business platform will be able to install apps for work, view contact information for colleagues, and request support. Apple Business is launching on April 14, and it replaces Apple ...

Top Rated Comments

colmaclean Avatar
25 months ago
An Apple TV version would be super, sweet and awesome.

I know you can currently use Airplay, but native support would always be better.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acctman Avatar
25 months ago
Developers: Apple is taking to much money it’s unfair.

Apple: Fine take payment yourself and we’ll allow side loading

Developers: People are stealing our apps and side loading for free

Apple: What did you think would happen, enjoy


I’m using Delta and sadly I’ve installed a bunch of rom for games I’ve never owned.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
25 months ago
cool, now that 90% of all iOS pro-sideloading people can now do the one thing they wanted to sideload for (playing illegal roms), we can drop this sideloading issue in USA.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xavier Avatar
25 months ago
It's been fun playing some old retro games. Apple TV would be the ultimate though!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Madmic23 Avatar
25 months ago
Any chance we can get an Apple TV version next? :)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
skottichan Avatar
25 months ago
Been enjoying this and fell back into Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on my iPad, I'm hoping the iPad specific version will have a full screen mode for those of us wanting to use a controller.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)