How to Transfer ROMs to iPhone for Emulators 2026

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iCloud Drive — easiest if you have an Apple device

iCloud Drive is built into every iPhone and Mac. No third-party app required.

On your Mac or Windows PC:

1. Sign in to iCloud.com in a browser (PC) or open the iCloud Drive folder in Finder (Mac).
2. Drag your ROM files (.gba, .iso, .z64, .nds, etc.) into iCloud Drive or a subfolder you create (e.g., ROMs/GBA).
3. Wait for the upload to complete — larger files like PS1 or PSP ISOs may take several minutes on a slow connection.

On your iPhone:

1. Open the Files app.
2. Tap iCloud Drive and navigate to your ROM folder.
3. Open your emulator (e.g., Delta). Tap + → Files and select the ROM file to import.

Compatible with: Delta (all systems), PPSSPP (select .iso or .cso), and any emulator that uses the standard iOS Files picker.

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Google Drive or Dropbox — works on any device (PC, Mac, Android)

Google Drive and Dropbox are free up to 15 GB and 2 GB respectively, which is more than enough for GBA, SNES, GBC, and N64 ROMs. PSP ISOs and PS1 BIN/CUE sets are larger — check your free storage before uploading.

PC or Mac upload:

1. Open drive.google.com or dropbox.com in a browser.
2. Upload your ROM file(s) to any folder.

iPhone download via Files app:

1. Install the Google Drive or Dropbox app on your iPhone and sign in.
2. Open the iOS Files app → tap Browse → you will see Google Drive or Dropbox listed as a location.
3. Navigate to your ROM and tap it. The file downloads to your local Files storage.
4. Open your emulator (Delta, PPSSPP, etc.) and import via the + button → Files.

Delta Sync uses Dropbox or Google Drive for save backups — you can keep ROMs and saves in the same drive, just in separate folders.

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AirDrop from Mac — fastest for local transfer, no internet needed

1. On your Mac, right-click a ROM file → Share → AirDrop.
2. Select your iPhone from the AirDrop list.
3. On iPhone, tap Accept. The file saves to the Downloads folder inside the Files app.
4. Open your emulator and import from Files → Downloads.

AirDrop transfers at Wi-Fi or Bluetooth speed locally — a 400 MB PSP ISO typically transfers in under 10 seconds.

USB via Finder (Mac) or iTunes (Windows) — for large ROM sets

1. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB. Open Finder (Mac) or iTunes (Windows) and select your device.
2. Go to the Files tab in Finder (or Apps in iTunes).
3. Select your emulator (e.g., Delta or PPSSPP) in the app list.
4. Drag ROM files into the emulator's document folder shown in the panel.
5. In PPSSPP: files dropped into the PPSSPP folder appear automatically. In Delta: open Delta → + → Files → On My iPhone → Delta to select them.

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The Documents by Readdle app adds a built-in browser and download manager to iOS that can download files from any URL and pass them to emulators.

How to use Documents to download and import a ROM:

1. Install Documents by Readdle (free on the App Store).
2. Open Documents and tap the browser icon (bottom right compass icon).
3. Navigate to the URL where your ROM is hosted. Tap the ROM file link.
4. Documents prompts you to save the download — tap Done. The file appears in your Documents file browser.
5. Tap the file → Share (box-arrow icon) → Open in… → select Delta, PPSSPP, or your target emulator.

Works for: Downloading ROMs from your own PC's local HTTP server, NAS, or a personal web server. Do not use it to download copyrighted games you do not own.

PSP ISO note for PPSSPP: PPSSPP on iOS reads from its own document folder and from the Files app. The easiest path is iCloud Drive or AirDrop; once the ISO is in Files, open PPSSPP → tap the folder icon → navigate to the file to load it directly without an explicit "import" step.

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