# iAltair — user reviews

> 12 indexed App Store user reviews of iAltair by Peter Schorn, rated 4.80/5 from 21 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ialtair/id291182085/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ialtair/id291182085.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 18 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 0

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — Bad update crashes in ios5.1

*2015-03-04*

Terrible update. Need to fix

### 3/5 — Crashes in ios 6

*2015-01-20*

It worked fine until this latest update.  Now it crashes just after launch, before even selecting a CP/M version.

### 3/5 — Good Start

*2014-04-04*

Needs more!

### 4/5 — iAltair

*2012-07-02*

Great emulator, could you add all of the disks, like the HD/iPad version? Maybe as an in app purchase, thanks for the great app!

### 4/5 — My first computer

*2009-10-24*

The Altair 8800 from MITS of Albuquerque, NM, was my first computer. It came as a kit and was initially called a "minicomputer" in 1975. It had 256 BYTES of memory, which would not be enough to store this review. The front panel (the icon has the 8080B) had 2 rows of switches and 2 rows of LED's. In simple terms the top row of switches controlled the address and data registers (memory) and the buttom the cpu (run, single step, input/output, write/read, etc).

After building the 8080, there was no operating system, no basic, no nothing. You would create your very simple "program" by flipping those switches and hoping to get a reaction, such as adding some binary numbers together. Eventually BASIC would become available along with 1k memory board. I had hooked this up to an ASR33 teletype machine and was able to finaly save and load programs using paper tape punched with holes.

It would be another year before a floppy was added, and you had to write your own assembler programs to make them work. When Gary Kidall released CP/M, it still required a lot of hours to get it to work and you had to "roll your own" BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) or "drivers" to get anything to work.

The first Apple computer would become available about a year and half later and also came in a kit. But it had BASIC built in and only had to be hooked up to a TV screen to make it work.

Interacting with CP/M was done on a paper printing terminal rather then "glass" dispaly. Eventually I got an ADM display.

When I first saw this I was hoping for a real simulator with functioning switches and controls, but, alas (as Jerry Pournellle would often say) it accomplished its goal of taking me down memory lane.

### 5/5 — SimH immer in der Tasche!

*2025-08-25*

SimH ist schon ein großartiges Spielzeug um in die Vergangenheit zu reisen — ich warte allerdings seit langem sehnlichst auf die DEC-VAX!

### 5/5 — Super Spielerei

*2019-12-02*

Macht super Spaß!

### 5/5 — Wow!

*2013-04-03*

A computer in my tablet!  How cool is that?

If you love classic computing you'll love this toy!

### 5/5 — Cool

*2012-12-22*

Cool

### 5/5 — how do I run Eliza?

*2011-05-20*

sorry, but how can I run Eliza? thanks

## Most praised reviews (2 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Nostalgia

*2010-12-06*

This deserves way more attention, thanks for making this!

### 5/5 — 懐かしく面白い

*2009-11-12*

Altairって古いパーソナルコンピューターのエミュのようなものですね。
iPhoneに黒画面と緑文字が浮かび上がる様はなんとも言えぬものが……。
コマンドを打ち込んで行けば色々できるわけですが、
取り敢えずオセロゲームが出来るという事だけは申し上げておきましょうか。
DOSなんか今でもあるけど?GUI無き時代を想うのに大変都合の良いアプリだと想います。

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*