TouchHLE
touchHLE is a free and open-source emulator for iOS applications, originally developed by an anonymous programmer going by the pseudonym hikari_no_yume. It is written in Rust to work specifically with games developed for older iOS versions, and as of version 0.2.3 it supports hundreds of games. touchHLE was first released in February 2023 where it was able to run Super Monkey Ball, a launch title for the App Store in 2008 which was at the time considered "long lost" due to it being incompatible with newer iOS versions. Support for other games, such as the Lite version of Super Monkey Ball, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and Touch & Go was added in later builds, and the emulator was ported to Android after a pull request was issued to add support for it, allowing Android devices to run legacy iOS games. The emulator makes use of high-level emulation where touchHLE itself takes the place of iOS and provides its own implementations of operating system frameworks, thus avoiding any dependency on copyrighted Apple firmware and libraries; the only code executed by the emulated CPU is the app binary and open-source libraries from Apple. hikari_no_yume also stated that they do not plan on supporting newer versions of iOS both on a technical and philosophical standpoint, citing the complexity of implementing 64-bit iOS apps and system libraries and changing trends in the mobile app ecosystem where the emergence of free-to-play games brought about concerns regarding the perceived decline in quality of mobile games.
| touchHLE | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Screenshot of touchHLE options page | |
| Original author | hikari_no_yume |
| Developers | hikari_no_yume and 25 others |
| Stable release | 0.2.3[1]
|
| Written in | Rust |
| Operating system | Android, macOS, Microsoft Windows |
| License | Mozilla Public License 2.0 |
| Website | https://touchhle.org/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/touchHLE/touchHLE |
touchHLE is a free and open-source emulator for iOS applications, originally developed by an anonymous programmer going by the pseudonym hikari_no_yume.[2][3] It is written in Rust to work specifically with games developed for older iOS versions,[4][5] and as of version 0.2.3 it supports hundreds of games.
touchHLE was first released in February 2023 where it was able to run Super Monkey Ball,[6][7] a launch title for the App Store in 2008 which was at the time considered "long lost" due to it being incompatible with newer iOS versions.[8][9] Support for other games, such as the Lite version of Super Monkey Ball, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and Touch & Go was added in later builds,[10][11] and the emulator was ported to Android after a pull request was issued to add support for it, allowing Android devices to run legacy iOS games.[12][13][14]
The emulator makes use of high-level emulation where touchHLE itself takes the place of iOS and provides its own implementations of operating system frameworks, thus avoiding any dependency on copyrighted Apple firmware and libraries; the only code executed by the emulated CPU is the app binary and open-source libraries from Apple.[15] hikari_no_yume also stated that they do not plan on supporting newer versions of iOS both on a technical and philosophical standpoint, citing the complexity of implementing 64-bit iOS apps and system libraries[15] and changing trends in the mobile app ecosystem where the emergence of free-to-play games brought about concerns regarding the perceived decline in quality of mobile games.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Release v0.2.3: The Happy New Year release! · touchHLE/touchHLE". GitHub. 2026-01-02. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ "touchHLE". Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "光の夢〜hikari's dream〜dream of light". Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "TouchHLE Emulator Lets You Play Old iPhone Games On Mac And PC - iOS Hacker". 11 March 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "DOOM On IPhone OS, On Android - Hackaday". 25 July 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Release v0.1.0: First release! · hikari-no-yume/touchHLE". GitHub. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Review: Super Monkey Ball for iPhone - Macworld". Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ Wallace, Anthony (February 3, 2023). "Enthusiast Creates Advanced iOS Emulator To Revive Obsolete Super Monkey Ball Game". Retro Dodo. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
TouchHLE not only allows Hikari to play the long lost Super Monkey Ball game, but it opens up the possibility for any obsolete game from the 32-bit era of iOS.
- ^ "The forgotten Super Monkey Ball game that launched the iPhone app store has been preserved with a new emulator - GamesRadar+". 10 February 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
touchHLE is starting to save the games lost in the iPhone's app-pocalypse
- ^ "Doom II RPG - Apps - touchHLE app compatibility database". www.touchhle.org. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
- ^ "TouchHLE: High-level emulator for iPhone OS apps". GitHub.
- ^ Espósito, Filipe (24 April 2023). "Developer ports iOS emulator to Android, but you shouldn't get excited about it". 9to5Mac.
- ^ "High-level iOS emulator touchHLE runs on Windows and Mac, aims to preserve old iOS gaming apps". 6 February 2023.
- ^ Williams, Elliot (July 25, 2023). "DOOM On IPhone OS, On Android". Hackaday. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- ^ a b "touchHLE is a new emulator for iPhone OS apps". GamingOnLinux. February 6, 2023. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- ^ "touchHLE FAQ (frequently asked questions)". touchhle.org. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
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