Just a quick thought -- do the external SWFs you're loading on iOS have any ActionScript? Apple doesn't allow code to be loaded from external sources, so in case you aren't already, you need to use the externalSwfs functionality in your application descriptor file to have the code packaged into the app itself, and then you only host the code-stripped SWFs on your server: https://airsdk.dev/docs/building/application-descriptor-files/elements/iPhone#externalswfs

And here's some of Adobe's old documentation on the issue (via Wayback Machine, since Adobe scrubbed these pages from their site): https://web.archive.org/web/20130427143041/http://blogs.adobe.com/airodynamics/2013/03/08/external-hosting-of-secondary-swfs-for-air-apps-on-ios/

If you try to load a SWF with ActionScript Byte Code on iOS I believe it throws an error and the app just stops at that point (in the past you weren't able to catch that error either, that might still be the case.)

Hello,

I’ve noticed that some existing apps on the App Store — for example, an app called “Zaptank” — are able to download and load external SWF files that contain ActionScript code at runtime.
Using Charles Proxy, I verified that these SWFs are fetched remotely after the app starts, and they seem to execute normally inside the AIR runtime.

However, I understand that iOS doesn’t allow dynamically loading ActionScript Byte Code (ABC), and the externalSwfs mechanism in the AIR application descriptor is meant to prepackage those files so that only code-stripped SWFs are loaded externally.

In this case, Zaptank doesn’t appear to use the externalSwfs mechanism or prepackaged SWFs — it’s fetching standard SWFs from the internet.

Could you please clarify how this is technically possible?

Is there some sanctioned mechanism or configuration that allows executing external SWFs with ActionScript on iOS?

Or is there some runtime behavior or sandbox exception (perhaps using swf or another internal AIR component) that enables this?

If it’s not permitted, how can an app with this behavior still pass App Store review?

I’m developing a similar AIR-based app and would like to understand the correct and compliant way to handle this, without needing to republish the entire IPA whenever a SWF update is required.

Thank you for your time.

Many Unity developers use interpreters (like Jint, xLua, PuerTS etc.) to implement hot updates for some game logic scripts, and this seems to be allowed by the App Store. So i guess is it possible to do something like this?

You are working around the Apple guidelines here and opening yourself up for AppStore removal.

2.5.2 Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps.

Personally I'd suggest you don't try this approach. I'm sure there are apps that have slipped through the review process, (it's not a technical limitation of the platform) however I'd say if Apple identifies them they would be removed from the store.

Also there is a difference between execution and configuration. It is perfectly acceptable to configure your app from remote configurations by passing parameters that can adjust game play (difficultly settings, level data etc) so these apps you reference may just be tweaking settings and content rather than executing functional updates?

I have searched for relevant information and I think this may be a topic that in grey area - that means the App Store has not strictly enforced their terms.

This part of the Chinese discussion is here: https://www.zhihu.com/question/56794578/answers/updated

so these apps you reference may just be tweaking settings and content rather than executing functional updates?

I'm not a mobile developer, but i believe that hot update frameworks are widely used in iOS - at least in China. The script interpreters I mentioned earlier are widely used. For example xLua is a well-known Lua interpreter, even in China mastering the Lua language is often included in the recruitment conditions of Unity development.

Sure, they might get around it via the "mini game / plugin" section (4.7) that allows for some small parts of the code to be downloaded and run. I believe this is most commonly applied to things like playable ads etc.

But as I said, this is all open to Apple's interpretation and I wouldn't do it if I was relying on the app for income.