Pulled iDOS app returns, update if you dare
An app that gave iOS users a working version of the DOS prompt has returned, though it's now missing one of its crowning features.
The controversial iOS app that let users run an emulated version of the DOS prompt has returned to the App Store, more than two months since it was pulled by Apple.
The app, which reappeared earlier this morning, has come back missing one key feature--the capability to use the file-sharing tool built into iTunes. This is what allowed users to add executables--including a full-blown Windows installer--into the app, turning the iPhone and iPad into nearly workable PC emulators.
To make up for this deficiency, iDOS' developer Chaoji Li has added six shareware games from 3D Realms as well as built a simplified game launcher that will load up any of those titles without the user having to peck out commands on the virtual keyboard. And for those who do not want to use the virtual keyboard, and use the full real estate of the screen, the app now supports Bluetooth keyboards, however this only works in text-based games, Li says.
Users who downloaded the app back when it was first available will get a notification to update from within the App Store. Li is urging users who want to get some of the new features, but who want to be able to come back to an earlier version of the app to retain the file-sharing feature, to first make a backup of the app file.
Update at 1:16 p.m. PDT: iOS games blog Touch Arcade points out that there's still a way to add files to the application using Macroplant's cross-platform iPhone Explorer utility. This solution does not require jailbreaking of the iOS device, though it may lead to the app getting yanked again.