Riley Testut, Developer of GBA4iOS:
As the developer, I couldn’t wait to read whatever Dario had to say about the latest GBA4iOS 2.0 beta on his Beta Blog. I loved developing the app, but even more fun than developing is seeing how others use and enjoy it. Dario always had great, well-written opinions on whatever new feature I had just added, which further fueled my joy for creating GBA4iOS. However, he wasn’t afraid to be critical of certain decisions, and this helped Paul and I decide moving forward what we would keep, and what we would change for the final release. Obviously, the point of the beta testing process is to polish the app for release, but the Beta Blog gave us much more insight into how people were using the app, which was invaluable. Because of this, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say GBA4iOS turned out as well as it did thanks in large part to Dario and the Beta Blog!
Exactly 365 days ago there was no GBA4iOS 2.0 available yet, the Start3rs hadn't met; GBA4iOSkins and iEmulators weren't even thoughts, and the Beta Blog was still just a potential idea I believed I might grow tired of in a few days.
Today, if it wasn't for that idea - this blog - I dare to honestly say that things might have been completely different for me. By having met Riley Testut, becoming a part of his beta and sticking with my guts to keep this place updated, I can unashamedly say it has changed my life.
On this day, I have a need to celebrate the anniversary of the site once known as the Beta Blog that ran from September 10, 2013 to February 19, 2014 when GBA4iOS 2.0 was finally released, and now is simply known as the GBA4iOS Blog.
It was thanks to this blog that I met some of my best friends today, how I got more involved on Twitter, got so many followers I probably don't deserve and heck, even made a few bucks from writing it, but the best part of all was that I enjoyed every part of the journey, and I'm thankful I became part of something I'm passionate about.
The History of the GBA4iOS Beta Blog
This won't be a short post. You're very welcome to read, but I don't expect you to - I'm doing this mostly for me and to give thanks to the place that has really changed me.
Seems odd, doesn't it? To have your life changed by something as simple as a website, but I think mine did. Owning your own space, keeping it lively and seeing how many people enjoy reading things that you yourself enjoyed writing? It's humbling and exciting. It's something I always wanted to do but I never had to courage to stick with it until I finally did.
All Things GBA4iOS
Every news blog on the Internet needs a topic. You research this topic, write about this topic, breathe this topic. Mine was, as you may have guessed, focused primarily on GBA4iOS, a powerful Game Boy Advance emulator for iOS. I first heard of GBA4iOS 1.6 in June 2013 through Reddit. It seemed like the perfect application for someone who doesn't really like the thought of jailbreaking (I have nothing against it, just not for me). I immediately looked it up, installed it and... that's when the fire nation attacked.
Kidding, but it dramatically changed things for me. After loading my first game (Super Mario World), I noticed the sound issues - I was disappointed but still happy I could play one of my favorite games on one of my favorite gadgets. I immediately thought of looking up the developer and maybe see if he was already working on an updated version that fixed this issue. I found him on Twitter and his name was Riley Testut, a young high school developer.
How We All Met
This was our first conversation, and the start of a great friendship:
You can already tell I had a thing about controller skins even before GBA4iOS came into the picture which helped form GBA4iOSkins, but I digress. I found out Riley was considering some updates at the time before he was shut down by Apple (at that time he hadn't even considered making 2.0 at all) and so I followed him without realizing that exactly one month later, on July 17, 2013, GBA4iOS 1.6 would be shut down by Apple and starting a whole new road to making version 2.0 for Riley.
Before reckoning day, I had started tweeting his then-girlfriend Alyssa. It's quite funny because it was thanks to her that I am where I am today. We started DMing and slowly but surely I inevitably began getting more involved in the project, fixing small things like a ghost icon bug, among other things.
A month passed and surely Apple had shut down the whole thing, revoked the certificate and rendered the app useless (or so we thought). The updates Riley had in mind for the first version of GBA4iOS were gone. He recounted to me what he was doing the day it all happened recently:
"I remember I was at my desk at bottle rocket, and all of a sudden I start getting a buttload of mentions. Then Alyssa texted me and told me what happened!" - Riley
The app didn't stay dead as Apple would have hoped, though; it lived on thanks to a very convenient trick now famously known as The Date Trick where you just roll the date back and it allows you to install an app with a revoked certificate. It was all Riley needed to see to begin work on a new, more refined, iOS 7-ready version that would surely get shut down once it was out, but at least people would still be able to obtain.
The GBA4iOS 2.0 Beta
On August 6, Riley Testut wrote "The Biggest Beta Test in iOS History" on his site explaining the process it took to get GBA4iOS 1.6 off the ground, how he gained thousands of Twitter followers, garnered popularity by being written about in major publications, and finally getting the certificate from MacBuildServer revoked by Apple. It was one of the first things I ever read from him and I was particularly interested about a certain paragraph near the end:
"I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: GBA4iOS is not dead. In fact, it’s far from it. 2.0 is coming, and it’s a complete rewrite of the app; not a single line of code was reused." - Riley
On Sept 3, Riley wrote "GBA4iOS Beta Testing" on his site encouraging people to apply to beta test GBA4iOS 2.0. A beta would mean the chance to get an early copy of the new app, and who knew when I would get another chance like this. All I knew then was that if I fit the pre-requesites, I needed to apply immediately - and I did.
Forty beta testers were chosen out of hundreds, and I only hoped I would be among the selected group - I wished it very hard and patiently waited until the names were announced.
As you can probably already guess, I did in fact get in the beta. It was a joyous occasion to have been picked out of a hundred other potential candidates. It would have been even more exciting if I hadn't already used up my excitement the previous day when the sneaky Alyssa DM'd me telling me she was quite sure I would be in the beta.
How Alyssa Totally Surprised Me
I've kept this a secret for over a year (I just revealed this to Riley yesterday via iMessage) that, yes, thanks to Alyssa, I knew I would be in the GBA4iOS 2.0 beta a day before everyone else.
I know it was kind of cheating the rest of the testers to have insight knowledge of things beforehand, but I didn't ask for it, Alyssa was just being Alyssa, and I'm thankful to this day she (as well as Riley) thought I was special enough to get in - it really put things in perspective for me; do what you love unashamedly and put yourself out there, you never know how many amazing people you will find along the way.
Being A Beta Tester
Although I've been known to be a pretty avid beta tester in the past, being a part of the GBA4iOS beta selected few was genuinely the first time I felt excited to be a part of something; I knew the things I reported could make a big difference for a product I loved. The first build was still a week away, but I decided that first day that I wasn't just gonna be playing Pokemon Emerald or Super Mario all day long - I was really gonna try my best to break the app and report all the bugs that would leak out.
The Revolutionary Idea
On September 9, four days before the first beta build of GBA4iOS 2.0 came out, I had a revolutionary idea that changed everything: what if I blog about my progress?
This little idea that kept bugging me most of the day grew bigger and bigger as I took into account how long I had been personally blogging. I joined Tumblr (my favorite blogging platform) in 2009, and although my personal blog consisted mostly about images and reblogs, I knew I could manage some journalistic writing if I put my head to it.
I realized I could easily make a new blog, host it under my own domain and just share what I thought. What could possibly go wrong as long as I was having fun doing something I loved?
I immediately went on Tumblr and checked if I could get a good URL username. I've always had a thing for doing things properly with the right name and the right attitude (something I love about Apple). I was momentarily shocked to find out that http://gba4ios.tumblr.com wasn't taken. I snatched it immediately and changed my mood towards the little idea in my head completely - I had to get this going, quick.
At first I thought, "hey, what if I use this place to collaborate with some of the other 40 beta testers? I could start a little niche where we can all share information." That same day I tweeted a few people I had seen around posting about GBA4iOS. One of the first people that caught my eye was Jon (OPERATIONiDROID). He had asked to borrow one of the logos I had started drafting for GBA4iOS and seemed nice enough. The tweet got some replies, particularly from this kid who seemed to own Emu4iOS. He was one of the press testers so I thought he might be suitable for it (and he did help with the first few posts later), but alas that day I didn't find anyone that day and I began working on the first ever post to be released the next day.
Conclusion
On September 10, 2013, one year ago, I posted the first ever Beta Blog post. I gave a brief introduction to the app, a little history, the beta, who I was and what I would be writing about come the first beta build.
With that first post, I launched myself into a crazy journey that I still find hard to believe a year later. I got to write for my own amusement and help the masses read about their favorite, soon-to-come emulator. I shockingly garnered millions of views and had people reading from all over the world. I managed to somehow get more than 2,000 people to follow me on Twitter and recognize my name, but best of all, I got to meet some of the best people I have ever come to known.
I grew closer with the developer, Riley, and his designer Paul Thorsen whom I admire greatly. Still Snapchat with Alyssa oftentimes.
I met the beta tester Tyler (@The120thWhisper) who became a very close friend and texting buddy. We talk about subjects that interest us and although he's annoying sometimes but he is regarded as a loyal friend.
I met press tester Jon (@OPERATIONiDROID) who we happily welcomed into the group. He's a really cool and kind guy that makes all these awesome videos on the same subject that I happen to write about - we got along great.
All three of us, together, even helped form the trio now known as the Start3rs that have brought you things such as GBA4iOSkins and iEmulators.
And yes, even you, Sach (@nintyapple), who a lot of times helps me edit my blog drafts and supports everything that I do even though we argue about everything.
There are... way too many good things that have come from this whole experience, and for that I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you to everyone that read and to this day continues reading this silly blog that I assure you will continue to be updated.
This whole thing wasn't just about some guy writing on some blog about some emulator app by some developer, it was my life and I have enjoyed sharing it with you.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! - Dario
Testimonials
I did this kind of late into writing this, but I asked some people what they had to say about the Beta Blog and turning one year old.
Paul Thorsen, Designer of GBA4iOS:
As the designer, I highly anticipated Dario's beta blog posts. I loved to read about the input that he had on the graphics, and of course the whole app. GBA4iOS was a lot of work, and to see someone put a lot of thought a time into a regularly posting blog (a very pristine one at that), was very rewarding to me. The blog was always refreshingly clean and detailed... *always* a great read.
Jon (OPERATIONiDROID), YouTuber and Start3rs member:
Hey Waaaasaaaabi OPERATIONiDROID here and in this video… Wait that’s not right. For those that do not know me I am a YouTuber OPERATIONiDROID AKA Jon and have been a steadfast GBA4iOS Beta Blog reader since it began. Along with Dario, the writer of the blog, I was a press beta tester and found his articles very insightful and helpful towards finding topics, ideas etc. to make videos! I was such a big fan of the blog that I even collaborated with Dario in creating posts and videos. The blog has been my number one source for all things GBA4iOS related and I hope it has been yours as well! It has been great reading through all the posts for all things GBA4iOS 2.0 and I will continue as we head into GBA4iOS 2.1!
Tyler Livingston, Start3rs Member:
I can't say I've read every blog post..... Hell I don't think I've read half of them. I used to be nothing but a boring PC gamer, sitting at home playing mine craft all day.... But suddenly everything changed when the fire nation attacked. (Take it away Dario! I don't know where the hell I'm going with this) [Dario here, Tyler is super lazy and "busy with homework" but he still loved the blog.]
Sach (NintyApple), loyal follower:
Beta Blog was the place where instead of reading brief tweets about the updates, I got to go more in-depth with each GBA4iOS beta. You really knew what to expect because Dario went through every new part of the beta. P.S. Dario told me to do this.
Carter (DanishiOS), reader:
I read mithical's beta blog, when I first heard about it it was probably when EMU4iOS was showcasing subscriptions, I couldn't wait for 2.0, I kept reading, The journalism was amazing. I couldn't wait, This was great.. 1 WHOLE YEAR."
Noah (RealNoobinator), reader: [not really about the beta blog, but I share his enthusiasm!]
I first found out about GBA4iOS I don't know how long ago when @cool_rom tweeted about it. I literally pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I had missed my (then patched) jailbreak so much because I couldn't emulate my favorite Pokemon games on my phone anymore. I instantly downloaded this new app. At this point, GBA4iOS was on version 1.6. I fell in love. I was looking through the in-app settings when suddenly I saw the link to @rileytestut, the creator, on Twitter. He gained a new and avid follower that day. Weeks passed, and I was content. But then... GBA4iOS 2.0 WAS ANNOUNCED! I could hardly contain my excitement! I followed @pau1thor when he was revealed to be the graphic designer for this app overhaul. "I can't wait!" I thought to myself for all those months. Then I discovered the Start3rs. I forget exactly how, but I think Riley tweeted about it. I followed their account and all their members (I'm looking at you, Dario. ;D). Each one of the Start3rs was interesting and unique. The rest is history. 2.0 was released, GBA4iOSkins was launched, and to this day I have fun playing my favorite GB(C)/A games. All was well with the world. Unless you count Hoot. Why do you do this to me, Riley? Why? But that's a story for another time.
Want your own testimonial here? There's still time! Just send any words you have on the Beta Blog to me at [email protected].
