iGBA questions and honest answers

No. iGBA plays .gba, .gbc and .gb files that you already have and import yourself. It does not host, link to or name any place to get game files. Use only files you have the right to use.

iGBA is free to download and plays all three systems with every core feature. The free version shows ads. An optional Pro upgrade, as a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase, removes them.

The free version of iGBA has ads, and we say so plainly: they pay for development. The ads disappear completely, in every format, once you have iGBA Pro, whichever plan you choose.

In the free version the app may show one short ad before a game opens. It's over fast, and it's what pays for the free systems. Pro users never see it.

Up to 10 save states per game, not 10 across your whole library. When you reach the limit, the Save State Limit alert offers a rewarded ad that unlocks unlimited states for 24 hours, or iGBA Pro for good. Deleting old states also frees slots.

No. Save states are stored separately from the game's in-game battery save, one folder per game. You can keep using the save menu inside the game and add save states on top of it.

Free users get 3 rewinds a day; after that the app shows Out of free rewinds for today and offers a rewarded ad or Pro. This also happens when rewind has nothing to go back to yet — it needs a few seconds of play to build history after you load a game or a state.

Each press jumps about 10.5 seconds back. The app keeps 33 seconds of history, enough for 3 jumps in a row.

The speed setting offers 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x and 4x. 1x, 1.5x and 2x are free; the others need Pro or a rewarded ad. The separate Fast Forward button runs at 2x, 3x or 4x while held and is free for everyone.

It accepts the common hexadecimal formats used by GBA and GBC cheat devices, both raw and encrypted, and detects the type from the length and layout of each line. Codes use only the digits 0-9 and the letters A-F. You can also pick codes from the built-in database.

Most often the code was written for a different version or region of the game. iGBA warns you with Cheat May Not Work when it can tell. Some codes also conflict with each other, and cheats are turned off while the link cable is connected.

Yes. Pause, tap Link Cable and use the Online section: create a room and share its 6-letter code, join with a code, or let iGBA find a player with the same game. A small relay only forwards the game data between the two phones, and it also links an iPhone with an Android phone when both run the latest version.

Both games are restored to the save they had before the link started, so neither player ends up with half a trade. Finish any trade or battle before disconnecting.

Yes. iGBA works with Bluetooth game controllers that iOS supports (MFi and the common console controllers), connected over Bluetooth or USB-C, and with a physical keyboard on iPad. You can remap every button in Configure button mapping.

Yes, as a beta. You sync a game from the iPhone to the Watch, and it then runs on the Watch itself. Controls are basic and performance depends on the game and the Watch model.

There is no Mac version. For Android, yes: iGBA for Android is a separate app, free on Google Play, for Android 8.0 or newer. The .igbasave and .igbabackup files work on both, so your saves can move across, and an Android phone and an iPhone can link online. There is no widget version.

Use Back up everything in the Saving settings to create one .igbabackup file, move it to the new device, and choose Restore from a backup. The backup holds saves, save states, cheat lists and settings, but not the game files, which you import again.

No. There is no automatic cloud sync; your files stay on the device. To keep a copy elsewhere, make a backup file and store it where you like, for example in the Files app.

Both are for finding nearby players for the link cable, and Bluetooth is also used by game controllers. If you never use the link cable, you can decline and still play normally.

Update iGBA to 2.14.0 or later and leave Flash memory size on Auto in Settings → Saving, then reopen the game. If it still fails, choose Flash 128K for that game and reopen it. A save already written at 64K cannot be repaired by the setting; restore an older copy.