Delta emulator changes logo after Adobe lawsuit threats — but just barely

Delta is a popular iOS game emulator, but it ran into a small problem with its logo recently. The app developer claims that Adobe threatened legal action against it if it didn’t change the logo, so it did — by doing the bare minimum.

The latest update, 1.5.4, released on May 17, and the version history notes on the Apple App Store highlight the change. While the update also added a “revised context menu for games,” the big thing is clearly the “new icon to avoid legal trouble.”

“Adobe threatened legal action unless we changed our app icon — so we did! Hope y’all like it :),” the update reads. The company also posted the same message on X.

Adobe threatened legal action unless we changed our app icon — so we did! Hope y'all like it 🙂 pic.twitter.com/eyY6xtecR9

— Delta Game Emulator (@DeltaEmulator_) May 17, 2024

The original logo (pictured on the right at the top of this article) is based off the delta symbol, but it also did look like the Adobe logo, which is also a triangle with an unconnected bottom line. So what Delta did was just take the top and rotate it slightly. And there! New logo.

In an interview with The Verge, creator Riley Testut said that while Adobe reached out in a non-threatening manner, Apple messaged a day later saying that Adobe claimed Delta was infringing on its copyright.

“We responded to both Apple and Adobe explaining our icon was a stylized Greek letter delta — not an A — but that we would update the Delta logo anyway to avoid confusion,” said Testut, who added that the logo is temporary.

Delta rose in popularity as a great Nintendo emulator after Apple loosened its restrictions for emulators on the App Store, so previously banned apps can now be listed. Earlier this month, Digital Trends reported that it was the No. 1 app on the platform after launch, with very high ratings. It’s worth noting that at the time of this writing, it’s No. 6 in entertainment on the store, although it’s unclear if this is because of its most recent update.