Game Boy Advance console is available for about $50 but owning an iPhone you can successfully install a GBA emulator and run any Game Boy Advance game on your iOS device. We provide full instructions on how to install GBA emulators for iOS without a computer. No jailbreak required. Download GBA emulator for iOS 13.
Best GBA emulators
GBA is a very successful mobile game console that has sold 81.51 million units worldwide. This handheld video game console developed, manufactured by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color was released in 2001. The platform offers access to hundreds of games.
Installing a GBA emulator for iOS 12 and iOS 13 you can download ROMs and play Game Boy Advance games on your iPhone screen for free. ROM file is a computer file that contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge. Find GBA ROMs from Google.
No BIOS files are required to play GBA games. Modern iPhone emulators allow you to import GBA ROM files directly from the Safari app. There is even no need to extract the ZIP file to load the game. If you are interested to install any of the mentioned GBA emulators click the download link for instructions.
When you think about playing Game Boy Advance games on your iPhone the first app you will think of is GBA4iOS emulator. There are other multi-emulator apps allowing you to play on your iPhone not only Game Boy Advance games but also, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo Game Boy classic.
1. GBA4iOS
GBA4iOS is a full-featured GBA emulator allowing you to play your favorite Game Boy Advance games for the Nintendo console. The GBA emulator is packed with great features like options to save states, display the game in portrait or landscape layouts, skip frames, or fast forward for quicker gameplay.
Multiplayer is also included. Linking allows you to activate a multiplayer feature that normally requires a Link Cable. Wireless Linking uses either local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. For best performance, all devices should be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Moreover, you can play external audio.
The newest version of the number one GBA emulator for iOS 13 and iOS 12 offers a completely new emulator core based on VBA-M with support for iPad devices. Moreover, GBA4iOS offers also full GBC game compatibility, support for cheat codes, Dropbox sync, customizable Skins.
GBA4iOS iOS offers also support for Airplay technology. From the app Settings, you can easily activate the Second Screen. When AirPlay is connected or you use HDMI, the game will appear on the second screen, and the controller will remain on your mobile device screen.
2. Delta Emulator
Delta Emulator is a free GBA emulator with support for Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance directly on your iPhone. Download ROMs, import the game files to the emulator and start playing using iPhone's on-screen controls or a connected controller.
The GBA emulator allows you to manage all games depending on the platform. From settings, you can select controller skins in horizontal and vertical mode, determine how translucent the controller appears on the screen, or manage 3D Touch shortcuts to favorites games.
Moreover, Delta Emulator for iOS allows you to save and load states and any time, activate cheat codes and fast forward option, and select buttons to hold down. Game ROMs can be imported directly from a web browser, using iTunes sync, or via files stored on iCloud or your iPhone.
Delta fully supports both Dropbox and Google Drive for syncing games, save data, states, and cheats between devices. This allows users to choose the option that makes the most sense for them, which is important since this is a feature everyone should have enabled in settings.
3. Provenance emulator
Provenance is a multi-emulator frontend for iOS and tvOS, supporting various Atari, Bandai, NEC, Nintendo, Sega, SNK, and Sony console systems. Main features include options to save states, adjust controller overlay opacity, play in portrait or landscape orientation.
All games are emulated at full speed, and you have multiple options for managing ROMs, Game Saves, and Cover Art. Download Provenance emulator ROMs directly from the mobile browser, import games from other mobile apps and AirDrop, copy via desktop app 3uTools, or the built-in webserver.
From emulator settings, you can activate autosave feature, disable auto-lock, change controller opacity, show FPS count, adjust volume control, choose controller to use, vibrate on button press, automatically load last save game on lunch, use CTR filter, and more. Works on iOS 13 also.
The GBA emulator for iOS and tvOS offers support for MFi Game Controller and iCade Controllers. Provenance emulator is packed with automatic ROM matching (Game Title, Cover Art, Description, Genre, etc.) via OpenVGDB and ROM customizations features.
4. Happy Chick
Happy Chick is one of the most comprehensive game emulators supporting arcade (MAME\FBA), GBA, GBC, MD, SFC (SNES), FC (NES), PSP, N64, NDS, PS1, and DC. Using this free iOS emulator you can not only play your favorite games but also download them directly to the iPhone.
The biggest advantage of this multi-platform emulator for iOS is access to all games directly from the app. You can download for free games available for supported platforms navigating through categories. Every game comes with a description, rating, screenshots, and download links.
Moreover, Happy Chick offers full support for GameSir handle allowing you to connect the gamepad to your iPhone via Bluetooth. From app settings, you can configure the handle scheme for all supported gaming platforms. Of course, you can also use the controls displayed on the screen.
Happy Chick offers features to automatically save game states (also in a cloud), create a list of favorites games for quick access, use cheat codes, adjust the key positions, take screenshots, skip frames for better performance, activate vibration on button press, or change controller opacity.
5. RetroArch Emulator
RetroArch is a front-end for emulators, game engines, video games, media players, and other applications that you can run on iOS 11 up to iOS 13. Access all the tools to play classic games on your Apple devices from Arcade, Consoles, Computers, Game Engines, etc.
Use RetroArch emulator to play games from computers like Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore VIC-20, MS-DOS, MSX, Odyssey 2/VideoPac, Palm OS, SHARP X68000, ZX Spectrum, ZX81, and also Arcades like FinalBurn Alpha, M.A.M.E 2003.
All cores (over 80) can be updated in-app. Other emulator features include an option to take screenshots, the ability to scan directories and files and add them to the game system collection, save states, use cheats, remap the controls, use NetPlay for multiplayer gaming and much more.
Works with games from consoles like Nintendo DS, Nintendo (GBA, NES, SNES, Virtual Boy) Pokémon-Mini, SEGA 32x, SEGA CD, SEGA Game Gear, SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, SEGA Master System, Sony Playstation, SNK NeoGeo Pocket, Atari 2600, Bandai WonderSwan, Vectrex.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is using GBA emulators on iOS legal?
Installing and using popular GBA emulators on your iPhone is absolutely legal, but installing Game Boy Advance ROMs can break the law.
Can I download GBA ROMs legal?
Unfortunately, there is no legal way to download ROMs containing Game Boy Advance games. If you don't own the game using a ROM file is against the law and you piracy the copyrights of the publisher.
Where can I download GBA ROMs?
There are a lot of services allowing you to download Game Boy Advance games in ROM image format. The easiest way to find games on the handheld video game console by Nintendo is to google for GBA ROMs and visit the website results from 1st page.
How many games are available for GBA console?
GBA offers access to over 1500 titles released for the console. Most of them are available in the English language, but there are also games released exclusively for the Japanese market.
Do I need a computer to install GBA emulator?
No, you don't need to use a computer to install any of the mentioned emulators. We provide direct web links installers that don't require a PC. Only IPA files require Cydia Impactor to sideload the app.
What devices are supported to emulate GBA?
All modern Apple devices should work with all GBA emulators. The better the processor of your device is the better the experience will be. The best support you can find on iOS 10 - iOS 13 (iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad).
What is the best GameBoy Advance emulator for iPhone?
Delta Emulator is the best and most advanced GameBoy Advance emulator for iPhone available for free. Other GameBoy emulators for iPhone that still work in 2020 are Provenance, RetroArch, Happy Chick, and the legendary GBA4iOS emulator.
