The Apple-1 Software Library Beta

Browse all the Apple-1 programs that ever existed. A tribute to history and their hackers.
Run them in any emulator, or instantly on the (real) machine.

Cellular

by Ken Wesson in 2007

Create early artificial life.

assemblywithin 4k

Also referred to as Cellular Automata, Cellular Automaton or CA.

History

This program draws cells on the screen, it is like Conway's Game of Life. These cells are being born and die depending on a set of logic rules, they form a cellular automaton. Their evolution, or artificial life, creates interesting patterns.

Try to search Conway's game of life on Google, keep the browser-window open for a while and discover the easter egg. Isn't it funny?

Instructions

The cells are represented by a * on the screen. The program asks a few questions before the drawing starts, this way the user can change the behavior of the automaton:

  • Choose the inital state, being:
    • 1 for a single cell,
    • 2 for a random set of cells
    • or 3 to enter the cells in hex.
  • Type the radius, this can be 1 or 2. This changes the amount of cells being a neighbour to each other and changes the effect of the rule.
  • Type the rule to follow. Read more about this here.

Note that the drawing is continues, an early screen saver.

References

Screenshot of Cellular
Serial
Wozmon Binary

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Personal Website

Assembly source

Public Domain

Last update:
2 April 2025

Historical reference : hardware

In 1976, the Apple-1 Computer was advertised for $666.66 and came with 4K of on-board memory. For a $120 extra, this doubled to 8K of RAM. The provided Operation Manual included the circuit diagram and assembly code of the monitor program, also called Wozmon.

The Apple-1 Computer main board
The Apple-1 Computer main board.

The Cassette Interface (or ACI) was used to load and save programs from cassette tape. The ACI Manual showed how to install it (the main board had to be jumpered correctly) and explained how it had to be used. Priced at $75, it included a cassette of Apple BASIC.

The Apple-1 Cassette Interface or ACI
The Apple-1 Cassette Interface or ACI.
Cassette with Apple BASIC
Cassette with Apple BASIC.

Software

Its BASIC was written by Woz himself. It did not support floating point arithmetic, but was tiny enough to fit in 4K of memory. The software itself was free. The Preliminary Apple BASIC Users Manual explained how to write your own games and programs with it.

Cassette tapes could be bought as an original accessory to your new Apple-1. A total of nine programs were available and listed $5 each. Pick one below and go back in time.

BASIC Mastermind Lunar Lander Blackjack Hamurabi Mini-Startrek 16K-Startrek
Dis-Assembler Extended Monitor

At the time, people were also inspired by publications like 101 BASIC Computer Games. They spent their evenings and nights to key-in the games, but soon were disappointed to discover that some of these did not work at all because of the missing floating points... Arghh.

Dive deeper? Read more here and here.

How to emulate?

It is easy to run the software with one of these emulators:

View a comparison of emulators here.

...and run a program

First, start the emulator of choice and have it run Wozmon (or BASIC), then use the Wozmon button to copy-paste the program code into the emulator.

For example: open Apple 1js in another browser tab. Hit CLS to clear the screen and RESET to enter Wozmon. Then paste the copied Wozmon code from this website.

In-website transfer to an Apple-1 Order now!

This website can connect directly (and locally) to the Keyboard Serial Terminal from 8BitFlux.com. It uses the Web Serial API for this and is supported by Chrome or Edge browsers. The Wozmon code of any program can be transferred quickly.

The Keyboard Serial Terminal connected to an Apple-1
The Keyboard Serial Terminal connected to an Apple-1.

Use the Serial button to transfer the current program to the Apple-1. For example, BASIC takes around 20 seconds to transfer at a speed of 57.6 kbps. The board is compatible with the higher-speed TurboType™ format (with CRC check).

After the transfer of the game or program, switch over to the normal Apple-1 keyboard (by pressing a button) and enjoy it. This makes also a great kit for museums and public events. Kits available now »

Further exploration

  • Talk on Applefritter, the home ground of the Apple-1 Owners Club.
  • For an anarchistic collection of Apple docs and software see the Asimov FTP.
  • Antoine's collection of Apple cassettes, with scans and audio extracts of the tapes.
  • The Apple-1 Registry keeps track of all real Apple-1 machines that ever existed.
  • The story of a homebrew Apple-1 computer by Bryan.
  • Vince Briel's GitHub repository has all the information on his Replica 1.
  • P-Lab lists interesting Apple-1 projects on his website.
  • San Bergman's website has a lot of well-documented information on the Apple-1, from its internal workings to programming it in assembly.
  • Take the online course in 6502 assembly language programming.

Credits

This library is an initiative of 8BitFlux.com. It can be put to full use with a Keyboard Serial Terminal adapter board, which let you run software instantly on a (real) Apple-1.

The textual descriptions and screenshots of the programs on this website are licensed under CC BY 4.0

Many thanks to Uncle Bernie for his support and provision of his TurboType™ algorithm, which is part of his Apple-1 Toolchain. Last but not least, all this was not possible by all the authors of Apple-1 software and emulators. The hobby computer enthusiasts of the past, but also people of the present, who keep this hobby so alive. Thank you all.

Disclaimer

This website is not associated with Apple Inc. in any way.

It tries to be a tribute to (their) history. It wants to list only software that is already considered to be in the public domain, or its license permits further publication. The (online) sources of the program and other references are listed when known.

Mistakes happen, as this website is not generated by any AI, please report any nonconformities.

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