In 2017, with the launch of the iOS 11hundreds of thousands of 32-bit applications are no longer supported — which made it impossible for a range of games that did not have their codes adapted for 64-bit processors to run on the most recent versions of the operating system and, consequently, on the iPhones more modern.
One of the users who were unhappy with this change was the developer who identifies herself on Twitter as @hikari_no_yume. She was a big fan of the version of Super Monkey Ball developed for iPhone OS (name of Apple’s old mobile system), but was simply prevented from playing it in recent years due to incompatibility with her device.
After becoming unemployed, Hikari used her free time to develop the touchHLEa high-level emulator (high level emulatoror HLE) that allows you to run games originally developed for the iPhone OS on a computer screen, both in Macs as well as Windows PCs.
To simulate the touch input that is required for gaming, the emulator allows the use of both mouse/trackpads and an analogue gaming controller. The latter is necessary if you want to simulate the accelerometer, but real support for this sensor should be implemented soon.
With the app, Hikari was able to run both his beloved Super Monkey Ball and two other titles (Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D e Touch & Go), all developed for iPhone OS 2.0 and its minor versions. If you didn’t think so, she made it clear that this list will grow over time.
Hikari also made it clear that application support for newer 32-bit versions of the iPhone’s operating system (iPhone OS 3.x and iOS 4.x) is likely to be worked on, as well as for iPhone OS 1.x and for developed games. especially to run on iPads.
Although it was specially developed to run on the x64 architecture, the software runs smoothly on Macs with Apple Silicon thanks to the Rosetta 2 layer.
In case you were interested, the direct links to download/install the software were made available on GitHub, as well as the complete source code of the emulator.
via 9to5Mac
