Apple at 50: AltStore’s Riley Testut on App Store rules, Delta 2.0, and indie developers

Apple is now 50 years old since it was formed, and I look at it with mixed feelings in 2026. The company, founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, simply wanted to make products for customers who didn't know they wanted or needed them. Today's Apple, at least to me, creates many of its products as a way of following trends or, as Apple Intelligence / Siri repeatedly continues to prove, plays catch-up.

I've refused to update my devices to the latest software versions, including macOS Tahoe, as I find them functionally confusing - it reminds me of Microsoft's Windows Vista from 2006. Too much style, in Apple's eyes at least, and not enough substance. Even the new software numbering raises my eyebrows. Bring back the cat names for macOS.

Nevertheless, the one aspect that I've always been a proponent of, as well as accessibility, is third-party developers. I've always wanted to champion the apps that they've been passionate about making and maintaining for Apple's customers.

It's also how I came to chat to developers like Riley Testut, known for Delta, a free emulator that lets you play games from several consoles and handhelds on your iPhone and iPad, such as NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and now, Sega Genesis. In addition, AltStore is an app store that lets users in certain countries sideload apps to their devices from trusted sources.

Instead of reflecting on Apple's past, I wanted to speak to Testut about where he and his team are as things stand. From the upcoming Delta 2.0 to AltStore's impressive growth over the past several years, there's plenty Apple can take note of if it wants to stay relevant for the next 5 years, instead of the next 50.

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An Alternative for Indies

Apple turned 50 this week, and they’ve been celebrating the milestone in various ways. As someone who’s tried to work with them in these last few years, how do you see Apple today, compared to the company that inspired so many developers?

I still believe Apple is an incredible company that has helped support and inspire a large community of people in many different ways. The biggest thing that’s changed for me, though, is how poorly they treat their indie developers.

For the longest time, Apple had always given consideration to the indies that helped shape the early App Store, but now they’ve turned their attention to profitability by focusing more on revenue-driving apps. Over time, the app review process and lack of support resources specifically for indies have deteriorated Apple’s relationship with indies, and I would love it if they would consider giving them more attention in the future.

Delta 2.0 is almost here with Sega Genesis support, cheats, and RetroAchievements - what was the big challenge in getting this version over the line?

The biggest hurdle has definitely been all the redesigns. On top of the new features, we also wanted to adopt Liquid Glass, which led us to redesign a lot of the UI. That said, I’m very happy with where we’re at now and excited to release Delta 2.0 very soon!

Delta’s steadily grown in features and support over the past several years - how far do you see Delta going? Is there a long-term vision for it?

Delta will always be a passion of mine, and there is never a shortage of features people want added, so I think Delta will just continue to grow with the community of users. With 2.0, we’ve focused a lot on all the low-hanging fruit, so I’m excited to work on bigger features again in the near future, like porting to other platforms, like the Mac.

Last time, we spoke about JIT (Just In Time), and you said you were chatting with the European Commission about it. Has there been any progress since then?

We are still actively working on this, in addition to several other things we are working on with the European Commission, though Apple has stuck to their argument that they only need to allow JIT for browsers and not any app. We still think JIT should be allowed for emulators and more, and we do believe it will happen eventually – it’s just a matter of time.

Delta Camera was a great surprise last year! Where did this idea come from?

Thank you! Yes, Delta Camera is something that came about because there’s a rising interest in retro photography as a whole, and we were seeing a lot of people trying out the Game Boy Camera again. Our thought was that we could easily make a version of Delta specifically for use with the Game Boy Camera that made use of your iPhone camera! This way, without any extra hardware, you could actually try out taking retro photos.

Are there plans to see it on iPad or even Apple Watch, once it reaches a full release?

I think if anything, we would make an iPad version one day, but for now, we still have to make time to release the iPhone version.

The Future of AltStore

AltStore on the Fediverse is a big milestone - how does it fit into AltStore’s long-term plans?

Yes, this was a huge milestone for us and is a pillar of our long-term plans. We think that the Fediverse gives us a lot of ways to easily share all the cool things happening on AltStore. And most importantly, the Fediverse is helping people discover new apps on AltStore. The community around the Fediverse is amazing, and we think many of them will be excited about what we’re doing and will want to participate!

With Pace Capital owning 15% of AltStore, has that changed how you think about its future, possibly in terms of freedom or pressure?

I think the only thing that’s really changed is how much effort we can put into building and growing AltStore. For so long, it was just me and Shane doing everything, and we had reached the limit of what we could do as two people. Now, we have a small team that can help us achieve everything we have ambition for, which is amazing. And Pace is very aligned with our mission and trusts our judgement, so we still feel we have the freedom to grow how we want. (Fun fact: One of the founders of Pace, Chris Paik, originally reached out to us because he sideloaded a manga reader app from AltStore Classic.)

With Loops, PeerTube, and iPhanpy available on AltStore, do you see these releases as a way of fulfilling the needs of users and developers in a way that Apple refuses to?

What we’re excited about is how much support we can give them as opposed to Apple. We really want to highlight all the amazing indie projects that are being developed, and so being able to put together a launch with these partners that appeared on the front page of TechCrunch was very special.

With the roadblocks you’ve experienced from Apple, what’s kept you going? As it reaches its 50th anniversary, is there anything you’d like to see from Apple to be more of a platform than an obstacle?

Apple has put up lots of roadblocks, but these roadblocks have always motivated us to find creative ways through them. And what’s been great is that momentum around anti-trust is continuing to build – getting to launch in Japan last year and Brazil very soon, we always have something on the horizon to look forward to.

The CSAM Store App Checker feels like something Apple would have built years ago. Some apps still haven’t been removed, three months on - what do you think that says about App Review?

I think it shows that App Review is mostly a way for Apple to decide what it likes and doesn’t like, and less about approving apps that should be approved. Apple uses App Review as a shield to say that they are doing all these security checks to keep iOS as great as it can be, but in reality, it’s much more self-serving, as we can see by the X & Grok situations.

There’s been a rise of sideloaded emulators that have been ‘vibe coded’ recently. What’s your take on this trend - could it severely risk the credibility of emulators on iOS, especially when accuracy is incredibly important to these apps?

I think more people being interested in building emulators is great for the community, and I don’t think it really affects people’s perception of emulators. And if anything, I think it could lead to more cool ideas for the community!

Apple is now 50, but AltStore will reach its 10th anniversary in 2029. Where do you see the company going by then - what does success look like to you and the team?

We’d love to keep pressuring Apple to change their App Store rules as they did with emulators, and continue to build a true haven for indie apps. Most importantly, though, success is AltStore being available as a real app store worldwide!

My thanks to Riley for taking the time to chat with me.

If you've been a subscriber to Springboard in the past year or read my work on some outlets, you'll be aware of my love for emulators. They can be fantastic for game preservation, reviving a long-forgotten game or series for new players, complete with high-resolution textures, unofficial achievements, and online support.

One example is Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems on the SNES. Having been unable to find a copy, I played it on Delta via my iPhone instead, connected to the Backbone One controller. It was great, and indicative of how far we've come with gaming on Apple's devices, despite some of this requiring the company to force its hand.

With the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) possibly opening the door for third-party app stores to be allowed in the country, I may be able to reap the benefits of AltStore later this year. But if you're a developer and you've become disillusioned with Apple's policies, making your app available on AltStore first feels like the better and safer option.

Despite being impressed with the MacBook Neo, I believe Apple still has a way to go to repair relationships with developers and users who have lost faith in the company. From Tim Cook's relationship with the U.S. President, to the strange design decisions in iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe, there's plenty the company can do right again.

For now, though, Testut and his team are showing how AltStore is a potential preview of Apple making some good choices in the future. But that depends if it's willing to consider better alternatives that could benefit everyone.

Thanks for reading.