How to Block App Player Emulators in iOS Apps

Last updated January 31, 2024 by Appdome

Learn to Block App Players in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What are App Players?

App Players, a type of emulator, are specifically designed to enable the use of apps from inside virtualized environments that run on laptops or powerful computers, instead of using the app on the mobile device as originally intended. Emulators participate in dynamic analysis. This is a form of reverse engineering that simulates, models, and mimics the behavior of mobile application software and hardware. It includes how apps interact with the mobile operating system and other systems, and it’s useful for creating mods. In most cases, individual reverse engineers, hackers, or gamers conduct these actions solely for their benefit, not in the interest of the publishers, developers, or legitimate mobile application users.

Why Block App Players in iOS Apps ?

App Players are used for cheating, to give a gamer an unfair advantage over another gamer using a mobile device. App Players create an operating environment that looks and functions much like the mobile device model, with many of the capabilities of an actual iOS device. But the gamer can use a full-size keyboard, mouse, controller, or joystick to give themselves an unfair advantage over other legitimate iOS phone users. Another reason app developers may want to prevent App Players within iOS is to protect the copyright of the art and graphics used in the mobile app.

Prerequisites for Using Block App Players:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Block App Players , you’ll need:

Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
A license for Block App Players
Mobile App (.ipa for iOS)
Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)

Block App Players on iOS apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Block App Players without an SDK or gateway:

Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.
1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System
2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
3. iOS Formats: .ipa
4. Block App Players Compatible With: Obj-C, C+, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more
Build the feature: Block App Players.
1. Building Block App Players by using Appdome’s DEV-API:
  1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Block App Players feature as shown below:
  2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Block App Players feature via Appdome Console, to add the Block App Players feature to this Fusion Set.
  3. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set, as shown in Figure 1 above, and get the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):
    
    Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
    Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).
  4. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Cirlce CI or other system:
    
    Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
    
    Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
2. Building the Block App Players feature via Appdome Console
  
  To build the Block App Players protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.
  1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Anti Fraud Tab > Mobile Cheat Prevention section.
    Like all other options in ONEShield™, Block App Players is turned on by default, as shown below:
    Figure 3: Block App Players option
    Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.
  2. How: Toggle (turn ON) Block App Players, as shown below.
    If needed, Customize the Threat Notification to be displayed to the mobile end-user in a standard OS dialog notification when Appdome Blocks App Players.
    
    Figure 3: Block App Players option
    Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.
  3. When you select the Block App Players you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Block App Players
    
    Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Block App Players protection
  4. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Block App Players:
    
    Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense
    If the Threat-Events™ setting is cleared (not selected). Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Block App Players.
    
    Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
    When this setting is used, Appdome detects the presence of App Players and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Block App Players Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
    
    Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense
    When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against App Players (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Block App Players Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
  5. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
Congratulations! The Block App Players protection is now added to the mobile app
Certify the Block App Players feature in iOS Apps.

After building Block App Players, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Block App Players protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Block App Players protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:

Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Block App Players has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Block App Players and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for App Players Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when App Players is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for App Players in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for App Players shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for App Players are:

Threat-Event™ Elements	Block App Players Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name	Block App Players
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE	Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION	Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE	Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Blocking App Players Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME	AppPlayerDetected
Threat-Event DATA	reasonData
Threat-Event CODE	reasonCode
Threat-Event REF	6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore	Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore	Total Threat-events score

Threat-Event Context Keys
message	Message displayed for the user on event
externalID	The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion	OS version of the current device
deviceModel	Current device model
deviceManufacturer	The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken	The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo	Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn	PLMN of the device
deviceID	Current device ID
reasonCode	Reason code of the occured event
buildDate	Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform	OS name of the current device
carrierName	Carrier name of the current device
updatedOSVersion	Is the OS version up to date
timeZone	Time zone
deviceFaceDown	Is the device face down
locationLong	Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat	Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState	Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid	Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus	Wifi SSID permission status

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when App Players is detected.

The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Block App Players:

let center = NotificationCenter.default
                center.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name("AppPlayerDetected"), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in
                    guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else {
                        return
                    }

                    let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user
                    let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
                    let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
                    let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
                    let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
                    let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key

                    // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                }

                         
                        Swift
                    
​x
 
let center = NotificationCenter.default
center.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name("AppPlayerDetected"), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in
    guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else {
        return
    }
​
    let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user
    let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
    let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
    let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
    let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
    let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
​
    // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}

[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName:  "AppPlayerDetected" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) {
                    __block NSNotification *note = org_note;
                    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) {
                        NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Message shown to the user
                        NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
                        NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
                        NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
                        NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
                        NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key

                        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                    });
                }];

                         
                        Objective-C
                    
​x
 
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName:  @"AppPlayerDetected" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) {
    __block NSNotification *note = org_note;
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) {
        NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Message shown to the user
        NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
        NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
        NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
        NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
        NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
​
        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
    });
}];

const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
                const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);

                function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
                    NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
                    aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
                }

                export function registerToAllEvents() {
                    registerToDevEvent(
                        "AppPlayerDetected",
                        (userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))

                        var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
                        var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
                        var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
                        var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Current threat event score
                        var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Total threat events score
                        var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Any other event specific context key

                        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                    );
                }

                     
                    React Native
                
​x
 
const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);
​
function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
    NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
    aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
}
​
export function registerToAllEvents() {
    registerToDevEvent(
        "AppPlayerDetected",
        (userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))
​
        var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
        var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
        var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
        var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Current threat event score
        var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Total threat events score
        var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Any other event specific context key
​
        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
    );
}
​

RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter("AppPlayerDetected"));
                class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
                {
                public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
                {
                    String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
                    String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
                    String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
                    String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
                    String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
                    String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key

                    // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                }
                }

                    
                    Xamarin/MAUI Android
                
​x
 
RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter("AppPlayerDetected"));
​
class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
  public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
  {
    String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
    String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
    String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
    String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
    String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
    String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key
​
    // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
  }
}

                NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
                    (NSString)"JailbrokenDevice", // Threat-Event Identifier
                    delegate (NSNotification notification)
                    {
                        var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Message shown to the user
                        var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
                        var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
                        var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
                        var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
                        var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey(""); // Any other event specific context key
                        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                    });

                    
                    Xamarin/MAUI iOS
                
 
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
  (NSString)"AppPlayerDetected", // Threat-Event Identifier
  delegate (NSNotification notification)
  {
    var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Message shown to the user
    var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
    var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
    var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
    var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
    var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>"); // Any other event specific context key
    // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
  });

window.broadcaster.addEventListener("AppPlayerDetected", function(userInfo) {
        var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
        var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
        var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
        var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Current threat event score
        var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Total threat events score
        var variable = userInfo.<Context Key> // Any other event specific context key

        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
            });

                    
                    Cordova
                
​x
 
window.broadcaster.addEventListener("AppPlayerDetected", function(userInfo) {
        var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
        var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
        var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
        var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Current threat event score
        var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Total threat events score
        var variable = userInfo.<Context Key> // Any other event specific context key
​
        // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});

                import 'dart:async';
                import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
                import 'package:flutter/services.dart';

                class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget {
                  const PlatformChannel({super.key});

                  @override
                  State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();
                }

                class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> {
                  static const String _eventChannelName = "AppPlayerDetected"; // Replace with your EventChannel name
                  static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName);

                  @override
                  void initState() {
                    super.initState();
                    _eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError);
                  }

                  void _onEvent(Object? event) {
                    setState(() {
                      // Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure
                      var eventData = event as Map;

                      // Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event
                      var externalID = eventData['externalID'];

                      // Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure
                      String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user
                      String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause
                      String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code
                      String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Current threat event score
                      String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Total threat events score

                      // Any other event specific context key
                      String variable = eventData['<Context Key>'];
                    });
                  }

                  // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
                }

                    
                    Flutter
                
xxxxxxxxxx
 
import 'dart:async';
​
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
​
class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget {
  const PlatformChannel({super.key});
​
  @override
  State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();
}
​
class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> {
  static const String _eventChannelName = 'AppPlayerDetected'; // Replace with your EventChannel name
  static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName);
​
  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError);
  }
​
  void _onEvent(Object? event) {
    setState(() {
      // Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure
      var eventData = event as Map;
​
      // Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event
      var externalID = eventData['externalID'];
​
      // Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure
      String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user
      String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause
      String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code
      String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Current threat event score
      String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Total threat events score
​
      // Any other event specific context key
      String variable = eventData['<Context Key>'];
    });
  }
​
  // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}

Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using Block App Players. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Block App Players

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps
Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores
Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

How to Block App Player Emulators in iOS Apps

What are App Players?

Why Block App Players in iOS Apps ?

Prerequisites for Using Block App Players:

Block App Players on iOS apps using Appdome

Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

Build the feature: Block App Players.

Building Block App Players by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

Building the Block App Players feature via Appdome Console

Certify the Block App Players feature in iOS Apps.

Using Threat-Events™ for App Players Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Related Articles:

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