For several years, installing emulators and other non-Apple-approved apps is done by going through third-party selling apps such as Cydia and by jailbreaking an iOS device. Though the process seemed tedious, it was unavoidable for anyone who's keen on playing old school games on a modern device.
The time came when developers learned about the use of "date trick." It refers to that feature of the iOS which allows the user to roll back the device's date and time. Once done, the user can start installing unapproved apps through Safari without having to do any jailbreak. This method of downloading apps is the most preferred by users who wanted to gain access to apps such as Popcorn Time or GBA4iOS. Moreover, their device can still receive software support and official updates from Apple.
"The Date Trick fuels the emulator communities nowadays," said Dario Sepulveda, a GBA4iOS 2.0 beta tester. "Without it, everything looks bleak."
The "Date Trick" started to become famous in the early part of 2013. Many users have actually believed that it is something that would last. While there were some cases wherein Apple had revoked some of the popular emulators' certificates, there were still a number of emulators left which can be installed just by rolling back the date.
However, the team behind GBA4iOS revealed that Apple has fixed the loophole in the recently launched iOS 8.1 beta. This was further explained in a blog post that bears the title "Apple is Slowly Killing Everything We Love" written by Dario Sepulveda.
According to Sepulveda, the iOS 8.1 beta was already seeded to developers. Along with this, iOS emulator buffs are already worried. "The 'Date Trick' fuels the emulator communities nowadays. Without it, everything looks bleak," said Sepulveda. "It is still unconfirmed whether this is a permanent thing come next beta update."
Developers and testers knew that something like this could arrive one day. The only thing that they feel amused of is the fact that it has actually been enjoyed by users for quite some time. Apple is known for doing regular patches to security issues that allow user access to unofficial code. Nintendo, which holds the copyright to their products, would most likely do anything in its might to eliminate the flaw at the soonest time possible.
It should be noted that Apple has been addressing the jailbreaking issue since 2007 when the practice was started. Incidentally, it was the same year when the iPhone made its first public debut. There is no way to think Apple would turn a blind eye to this.
