6 Best Game Boy Emulators for iOS (2025)

Game Boy Emulators for iOS are a great way to access and play the old Game Boy games on your smartphones. However, most of the GBA Emulators for iOS lack compatibility and reliability and are often slow and laggy. That’s why I have handpicked some of the best Game Boy emulators for all your needs.

After days of research, evaluations, reviews, and customer surveys, I have selected 6 of the best emulators for Game Boy on iOS to match all your needs. These top Game Boy emulators offer ideal performance, proper compatibility, and an excellent gaming experience. I have compared them based on features like reliability, pricing, support, and ease of use. Let’s start with the review covering pricing, features, advantages, and disadvantages to help you decide which is best.

Best GBA (Game Boy Advance) emulators for iOS

Game Boy Emulator	Free Trial	Device Support	Best For	Link
GBA4iOS	Lifetime Free	iPhones (up to iOS 7)	Best for use of cheats and mods	Learn More
LDPlayer	Lifetime Free	Windows & Android	Best for emulating various gaming	Learn More
Happy Chick	Lifetime Free	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Smart TVs	Best for emulating various gaming consoles	Learn More
RetroArch	Lifetime Free	Steam, Huawei, Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Play Station	Best for hosting or joining a gaming session	Learn More
Provenance	Lifetime Free	iPhones (up to iOS 13)	Best for compatibility with core iOS APIs	Learn More

1) GBA4iOS

Best for use of cheats and mods

I tested and found GBA4iOS to be among the best Game Boy emulators for iOS devices. I was able to easily install cheats to gain an advantage in the game and dominate my competition.

I found its controls easy to use, and it has proper haptic vibrations that help reduce missed clicks. This enables me to perform better and improve my gaming skills, making it an ideal GBA emulator.

Features:

• Music: I could select my choice of music to play during the gameplay instead of the default music/audio of the game.
• Device Support: It runs on a wide range of iPhones and has robust compatibility with various iOS versions and games.
• Mods: GBA4iOS fully supports cheats and mods, hence, I received customized gameplay according to my preference.
• Skins: It allowed me to pick and choose from 1000s of 3^rd party controlled skins for my Game Boy controller.
• Dropbox: I could sync my game records and data with Dropbox, which ensures that I never lose any valuable records.

Pricing: Lifetime Free

Link: http://www.gba4iosapp.com/

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2) Happy Chick

Best for emulating various gaming consoles

I noticed Happy Chick always offers me a wide range of games quickly on any device. While using it, I received constant updates and changes via its robust blockchain-driven Web 3.0 infrastructure.

I thoroughly enjoyed its custom game controller, which let me control the games on my phone with greater comfort. The installation guides and instructions are ideal even for beginners and inexperienced users.

Features:

• Gaming Systems: I could access 18 unique gaming systems bundled in a single interface, which is impressive.
• Gamepad: It is compatible with most popular gamepads; hence, I could play the games easily with your preferred control methods.
• Multiplayer: The support for multiplayer gaming lets me play with my friends and family without any issues.
• One-Click: It lets me effortlessly download, install, and configure the games with just one click.
• Device Support: Happy Chick supports various platforms, including Android, iOS, PC, and Mac.

Pricing: Lifetime Free

Link: https://www.xiaoji001.org/

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3) RetroArch Emulator

Best for hosting or joining a gaming session

The next tool I am discussing is RetroArch is a robust game engine, media player, and game emulator for playing various titles, including the ones made for GameBoy. What I liked is that it supports shaders, rewinds, and runaheads which really enhance my gaming experience.

It is amongst the best Game Boy Advance emulators for iOS, designed to be highly customizable and configurable. It let me choose my themes, use shaders, and utilize their controller profiles to personalize them.

Features:

• Achievements: All the games have included achievements and milestones, just like all modern games.
• Tweaks: The native configuration options let me configure its performance and display easily.
• Supports multiplayer: I could host multiplayer Game Boy as it has a built-in netplay lobby. At times, I even used spectator mode when I simply wanted to watch others play.
• Recording: It allowed me to record the gameplay natively and stream it on popular platforms like YouTube and Twitch.
• Device Support: It is available as native Windows, iOS, macOS, Xbox, and Linux apps. I could even use it on the web via the RetroArch Online interface.

Pricing: Lifetime Free

Link: https://www.retroarch.com/

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4) Provenance Emulator

Best for compatibility with core iOS APIs

I recommend Provenance for emulating various consoles like Game Boy, Atari, Sega Genesis, Sony, and other consoles. It natively integrates with various iOS APIs to fully support 3D Touch Shortcuts, Haptic Feedback, Spotlight Search, etc.

I was impressed with its metadata and details like the storyline, size, and release date of all the available games.

Features:

• ROM Browser: This advanced iOS emulator automatically downloads metadata such as release info, screenshots, and artwork for all games.
• Community: I joined their community via Discord and also got access to Twitch live streams, and YouTube Video tutorials.
• Multi-Disc: Provenance Emulator supports BIN/CUE that suits multi-disc CD-ROM games with disc swapping in the middle of the game.
• Open-Source: It is available natively for iOS as an open-source IPA file. This helps independent developers to keep a check on proper quality and security.
• Core Options: I got granular control; hence, I could decide how I wanted it to run. Therefore, it lets me adjust the lighting, aspect ratio, texture, gamma, and more through its settings.

Pricing: Lifetime Free

Link: https://provenance-emu.com/

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5) Afterplay

Best for emulating a wide range of devices

As I carried out my evaluation, I found Afterplay to be ideal for iOS emulator for Game Boy to play games from consoles like Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Super Nintendo. Using Afterplay I liked how easily I was able to upload/save my progress on the cloud and retrieve it later.

I could customize touch controls and with complete support for hotkeys and searches. One of the best features I used was game rewind. This helped me rework any mistakes that I made which ultimately helped me gain more gaming skills.

Features:

• Autosave: The autosave functionality ensured that my game progress was saved without fail. In its free version, it saved the game every 90 seconds, but when I got the premium autosaved worked every 20 seconds.
• Customize Controls: It allowed me to fully customize and configure the game controls per my needs.
• Snapshot: I could capture any moment in the gameplay and share its snapshot with others. This was usually helpful when I wanted to show off my wins.
• Cloud: The Cloud connection can be used to store game progress on cloud servers for easy retrieval in the future.
• Gameplay: The graphic settings helped me easily tweak the visual appeal, customize audio, and more.

Pricing:

Some of the pricing options offered by Afterplay are:

Plan	Pricing
Premium	$5.99 per month
Cloud Beta	$12.99 per month

Free Trial: Lifetime Free Basic Plan

Link: https://afterplay.io/

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6) Delta Emulator

Best for compatibility with iOS 17

I added Delta Emulator to my list because it allows me to easily play games from various old gaming consoles on my iPhone. During the research, it worked natively with the most modern iPhones without needing jailbreaking.

I could directly download game ROMs on my PC and easily transfer them to an iPhone using iTunes. This GBA Advance emulator for iOS also allowed me to manually save states and restore them later as needed.

Features:

• Keyboard: With Delta Emulator I received proper keyboard and controller support, ensuring I get a seamless gaming experience.
• Browser: The in-built Delta browser allowed me to search, discover, and download my favorite games.
• Game Systems: I can use it to access various gaming systems such as NES, SNES, GBA, DS, and N64.
• Sync: It offers proper iCloud sync to save all your data and progress. This can be quickly restored via your iCloud account whenever needed.
• Compatibility: Delta Emulator is compatible with the latest Android, iOS, and Windows generations.

Pricing: Lifetime Free

Link: https://deltaemulatorapp.com/

What is a Game Boy Emulator and How Does It Work?

A Game Boy emulator helps you play classic games from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on modern smartphones and tablets. These games are decades old and use obsolete languages and software stacks from most modern machinery.

An emulator is a translation layer between retro programs and modern operating systems. Most classic GBA games can’t run on the latest hardware. An emulation software translates and interprets the GBA games to run on recent devices such as iPhones and iPads.

Some of the best classic GBA game emulators today can leverage high-performance modern hardware to provide a much better gaming experience. You can find Game Boy emulators for PlayStation, Xbox, Windows, macOS, iOS, etc.

Why trust our selection of GBA emulator for iOS

Some of the critical factors that I considered when choosing the right Game Boy emulator are:

• Compatibility: When choosing a Gameboy emulator, it is necessary to focus on the compatibility factor. The software should be compatible with your existing hardware. When selecting a Gameboy emulator, I always focus on this issue to ensure my games run smoothly without any issues.
• Performance: Translating old games to work with modern hardware is a performance-intensive process. Hence, I selected services that are optimized for maximum performance.
• User Interface: I included only the services with clean, easy-to-use user interfaces in this list. There were times when I noticed that the tool offered great performance, but the UI was hard to navigate, so eventually, it became frustrating.
• Pricing: I looked for Game Boy emulators in iOS with the best value for my money. I have tried both paid and free GBA emulators for iOS and noticed that some of the free versions were as good as the paid ones.
• Additional features: I also checked the emulator’s additional features, such as mods, cheats, shaders, custom resolution, etc. These features ensure the best gaming experience.

What are the legal and ethical considerations when using an iOS Game Boy emulator?

Emulation software, as such, is legal and completely compliant with most regulatory authorities globally. The ethics of using a game emulator depends highly on the situation. Overall, it is not morally wrong as you may simply want to preserve an old game that is no longer on the market.

However, downloading games and modifying closed-source files can be considered a copyright infringement. Therefore, you might risk legal actions against yourself using a retro game emulator. That is why I highly recommend that game emulators be avoided. In short, Emulators are legal, but the software/ROM you run using them is illegal.

Troubleshooting Common Issues in Game Boy Emulators for iOS

Some of the common issues in Nintendo Game Boy emulators are:

• Error: I came across a few errors when playing games, and this was likely because of incompatibility between my device and the Game Boy Advance games. Once I chose a different service, the error was solved.
• Performance: Emulation is computationally intensive and can have substantial cost penalties. Therefore, you must upgrade your iOS device and choose a highly optimized Game Boy Emulator.
• Compatibility: I’ll have to inform you that most Game Boy emulators are not particularly well-optimized for the latest generations of iOS. As a result, for the best stability, you should choose from only compatible iOS versions.

Are Game Boy Advance emulators safe to use on iOS?

Yes, most Game Boy Emulators are safe, require no jailbreaks, and run like any other app. Certain apps that have to be sideloaded via IPO files might not be secure, but Apple’s security systems will keep you safe.

Do Game Boy emulators for iOS require jailbreaking the iPhone?

Most Game Boy emulators work without needing jailbreaking. They work like any other game on your iOS device. Some apps might still need jailbreaking for additional features and enhanced gameplay. However, we recommend you always avoid jailbreaking, as it voids your warranty and creates many security/stability risks.

The Verdict

This review takes you through some of the best Game Boy Emulators for iOS. Although all the emulators in this list are reliable, I would recommend these top three providers as they performed the best during my review.

• GBA4iOS: It is perfect for loading and running cheats in my Game Boy games.
• Happy Chick: This service offered me the broadest range of consoles for emulation purposes.
• RetroArch: I found it best for effortless online multiplayer gaming sessions.