HP-48/49/50 emulation on iOS

[dmarsh]

Hi guys- I am also a long-time RPL guy (since the HP28C/S days), and long-time user of m48+.

Markus Gonser sent me the source code for m48+ a couple of years ago, and Marek Zima sent me the emu50g sources recently. These projects are GPL since they are derived from emu48, and emu50g is directly derived from m48+. Markus (the original author) seems to have completely lost interest in the project, unfortunately.

I've been poking around at the source code for both apps since I've had some extra 'pandemic time'. With some edits to redirect web requests to my server instead of Markus' site (so that auto-setup will work consistently), I successfully built a running version of m48+.

It currently runs nicely on my new iPhone.

I have also fixed a number of bugs, ported some updates from emu48 and emu50g, and added the ability to use the iOS documents feature (files app), which is far superior to the old built-in file manager and allows for much easier file transfers in and out of the emulator. I'm still working at fixing additional bugs and features- a major one is that I'd like to see if I can get Port 2 to be properly persistent rather than losing things that get stored there, and I would like to remove all dependencies on an external web server (other than rom and MK downloads).

BUT, there is still also much work needed to get it using current APIs and in a state that the app store overlords may accept it again. It also badly needs updating to properly support newer iPhones and screen resolutions.

I thought I would mention that there's work being done on it, though, so all hope isn't necessarily lost for us RPL junkies that also use iOS.

In an email conversation with Marek, he told me that he had submitted m48+ again to the app store since Markus is done with it, but it was rejected due to the requirement it has to download rom files. In order to be accepted again, the rom files would have to be included in the app directly with permission from HP- that may or may not be possible.

I do have some hope that the 'no downloading code' rule may be relaxed or clarified soon due to another app just approved that's pushing this boundary, so I'll be watching that situation as it plays out- it could greatly influence the fate of a number of iOS apps, not just this one. For the curious, the approved app in question is 'ish shell'- it can download Alpine Linux distribution files and run them in a sandboxed and emulated x86 environment- it's actually VERY cool if you like a linux-like terminal environment.

In the meantime, it is possible to still run m48+ but only if you are an iOS developer and can build it yourself on a mac. I'm happy to share my edits with anyone that wishes to do that- if there's much interest I can put my source tree up on github or gitlab.

I would still like to see m48+ back in the app store, so I will still keep working at it as I have time here and there- even as old as it is it's still my favorite calculator app on iOS, and with some more updates & fixes I think it can become far better.

Dave Marsh