The developer behind the iPhone emulator app Delta revealed that a key limitation of Apple tvOS is why there isn't an Apple TV version. While Apple TV isn't lacking in games with Apple Arcade, a recent developer discussion highlighted how every game and app on tvOS deals with storage restrictions. Each game and app can only store a maximum of 500KB of storage, from scores to saved games, and even emulator game ROMs.
Ole Begemann, a developer from Berlin and author of the Swift book, explained on Mastodon that it is possible to store data exceeding 500KB, but it comes with certain risks.
Developer Ole Begemann's post on Mastodon about tvOS limitations
Even though Begemann linked to an Apple guide that describes 500KB as "limited," any content saved on Apple TV 4K exceeding this limit will be automatically deleted by tvOS when space is running low.
Emulator developer Riley Testut revealed in response to Begemann's query that this limitation also hinders his work. He stated, "To be honest, the lack of persistent storage is a significant reason why I haven't ported 'Delta' to Apple TV yet."
While the emulator RetroArch can be used on Apple TV, discussions on the gaming forum Resetera sparked by Begemann's post have users complaining about the same restrictions. Suggestions on Reddit for new users on loading game ROMs into RetroArch include using caching, but there have been no comments yet on whether the cache might be deleted by tvOS.
Apple's documentation explains that data exceeding the 500KB limit is stored in the cache and will not be cleared while a game or other application is running. However, when space is low and your app is not running, this data may be deleted.
There are also limitations on the cache, which can hold a maximum of 4GB, including all the app's code and resources like images and audio, or slightly less than 4GB in practice. Apple warns, "Do not use the entire cache space, as it may lead to unpredictable results."
Apple also notes that "your app can store and retrieve user data in iCloud" as a solution. However, downloading from iCloud is slower and adds complexity to the app as it needs to manage whether data is stored locally.
Subsequently, an unnamed developer (using the Mastodon handle Ezekiel) claimed in a Mastodon thread that it was this storage issue that caused the shutdown of the Apple TV version of "Minecraft." "Minecraft" was released on Apple TV in 2016 but was later removed.
