AirPlay turns the Delta emulator into a full-on retro console

The launch of the Delta emulator on iPhones is a big deal in many ways. But for users, it is also Really cool. Here is excellent software capable of emulating the NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA and Nintendo DS so you can play classic games on a device that is always in your pocket. Even better: even though there’s no Delta app for the Apple TV (yet), it’s still very easy to use it to play games on your TV.

That’s because Delta supports AirPlay so you can stream video and audio from your phone to another Apple device, like an Apple TV or computer. For Delta, this means the game itself plays on a larger screen while your phone becomes a touchscreen controller. Or, if you connect a Bluetooth controller to your iPhone, you can use it to play.

I tested the setup using an iPhone, Apple TV, and the PS5’s DualSense controller, and it was incredibly simple. (The longest part of the process was pairing the controller to my phone, which takes a few seconds.) In my experience — which included playing a handful of NES, SNES, and GBA games — it worked well . The games looked great and there was no noticeable lag to the controls. I also did a quick test on a MacBook Air, and the process was just as easy once I set the appropriate permissions.

For most games on these platforms, it’s simply a more natural way to play. This is partly because they were originally designed for a TV, but also because a real controller is almost always better. Delta’s touchscreen controls do an efficient job, but they just aren’t the same as real buttons.

And that’s it, really. This easy-to-miss feature makes Delta much more useful than it might first appear, opening up the possibilities of what you can do with the app, especially when it comes to multiplayer. And considering how early in life iOS emulators are, it’s exciting to see how good things already are.