In general emulation is not that mature on Android compared to other platforms, and emulator availability on the Google Play store leaves a lot to be desired. Many emulators are not there at all, or they are present but have been crippled or have not been updated for a very long time. As well many emulators simply don't integrate with a frontend application like ES-DE as they offer no way of launching games from an external application. So although it may look like emulator availability is not that bad when browsing the Play store, a lot of those emulators are unfortunately not usable in practice.
Some of the emulators that are supported by ES-DE have to be sideloaded using a manually downloaded APK. But thankfully this is not very difficult to do. The exact producedure for how to install APKs manually is not covered here but there are many resources available online on how to accomplish this.
There is also the [F-Droid](https://f-droid.org/) app store as an alternative to Google Play, and this service contains a couple of emulators that are not present on the Play store, or that are present there but haven't been updated for a very long time.
A number of emulators support the [FileProvider](https://developer.android.com/reference/androidx/core/content/FileProvider) API which makes it possible for ES-DE to temporarily provide storage access to the game ROMs on launch. This means that no access permission needs to be setup in the emulator upfront. For those emulators which do not support the FileProvider API, you will generally need to manually provide scoped storage access to each game system directory. Note that it's not supported to give access to the root of the entire ROM directory for emulators that use scoped storage, it has to be for the specific system. For instance `/storage/emulated/0/ROMs/n64` rather than `/storage/emulated/0/ROMs`. But this is not the case for some emulators like RetroArch which may still be using an older storage access method.
The following emulators are configured for FileProvider access:
* 2600.emu
* C64.emu
* GBA.emu
* GBC.emu
* Lynx.emu
* MD.emu
* MAME4droid 2024
* MAME4droid
* NES.emu
* NGP.emu
* PCE.emu
* Play!
* Ruffle
* Saturn.emu
* Swan.emu
* Yuzu
Note that some of these emulators still require BIOS files, so not all of them will be completely free from manual configuration.
The following emulators have partial FileProvider access support but are currently not configured for that in ES-DE:
* Dolphin (the FileProvider interface is broken on Android 13 and later)
* M64Plus FZ (the FileProvider interface doesn't work reliably and game launching randomly fails when using it)
* PPSSPP (the FileProvider interface doesn't work with .chd files specifically)
### RetroArch
The RetroArch release in the Play Store is not very good and is therefore not recommended. To get access to all cores make sure to instead manually download and install the 64-bit/aarch64 APK from their website:
https://retroarch.com/
You could alternatively install the release on the F-Droid store.
Although the emulator entry is named AetherSX2 the recommended release of this emulator is actually the NetherSX2 patched version as the AetherSX2 release on the Google Play store doesn't work correctly and probably can't be used with ES-DE at all. You'll need to search for this APK online, the filename you'll want is `15210-v1.5-4248-noads.apk`
If you prefer to apply the NetherSX2 patch yourself then you can find all relevant information here:
The version of Citra on the Google Play store is very old and barely works. Instead download either the Canary or Nightly builds from the Citra website or use the Citra MMJ fork:
https://citra-emu.org/download/
https://github.com/weihuoya/citra/releases
### Dolphin
The Play store version is somehow up to date and could be used, otherwise the F-Droid store version is up to date, or you could download the latest release directly from their website:
In the past there were multiple unofficial ports, but these are not really recommended any longer as most of them don't seem to have been updated in a long time and are likely to have been surpassed by the official Dolphin release.
This emulator can be installed from the Play store as a paid app. Note that it does not support launching of zipped game files.
### DuckStation
The Play store version of this emulator is getting frequent updates and is therefore recommended. This is probably the best PlayStation emulator on Android.
There does not seem to be a way to launch individual EKA2L1 games from a frontend application on Android, instead ES-DE will simply launch the EKA2L1 user interface and you'll have to manually start your game from there.
These set of emulators also known as the "Robert Broglia" emulators consist of 2600.emu, C64.emu, GBA.emu, GBC.emu, Lynx.emu, NEO.emu, NES.emu, NGP.emu, MD.emu, MSX.emu, PCE.emu, Snes9x EX+, Saturn.emu and Swan.emu
You can install them via Google Play (as paid apps) or download them from their GitHub automatic build system:
This RetroArch core is a good port of the official PICO-8 game engine which does not exist on Android. It's not shipped with RetroArch by default though so you need to manaully install it. After download you'll need to place it inside's RetroArch's downloads directory and then install it from the RetroArch app. Details on how to accomplish this can be found on the Internet. Fake-08 can be downloaded from their GitHub site:
These emulators can be installed from the Play store as a paid apps. FPseNG is the more modern version so it's probably best to go for that. As .chd files are not supported and because these emulators can't run games with dots in their directory names it's probably better to use DuckStation unless you have a good reason not to.
### MAME4droid
This emulator can be installed from the Play store. It's strongly recommended to go for the _MAME4droid 2024_ version as this is updated with a frequent MAME release while the older _MAME4droid_ emulator is using an ancient MAME release.
This emulator can be installed from the Play store but it's quite buggy. Every time you add a new game to the ROM directory you need to start the emulator and manually refresh the game list or you won't be able to launch the game from ES-DE. Filenames containing parentheses also don't work and need to be renamed or they can't be launched from ES-DE. The same is probably true for a number of additional characters.
Although OpenBOR is working fine on Android it's not possible to properly integrate it with a frontend, you'll instead need to install your game PAKs into the `/sdcard/OpenBOR/Paks` directory and create dummy .openbor files for your games in `ROMs/openbor` and after launching a game from ES-DE you need to manually start it from inside the OpenBOR GUI. You can download the latest APK from here:
https://github.com/DCurrent/openbor/releases
The version named _OpenBOR v3.0 Build 6391_ has for example been proven to work well.
The Pizza Boy GBA and Pizza Boy GBC emulators can be installed from the Play store. There are Basic (free) versions and Pro (paid) versions available.
As of writing this, the Basic version of the GBA emulator does not seem to be able to launch games from ES-DE, but the Pro version is working fine. Both the Basic and Pro versions of the GBC emulator are working fine however.
This 3DO Interactive Multiplayer emulator can be downloaded from here:
http://www.arts-union.ru/node/23
### Redream
Redream is available on the Play store but is as of writing this not usable on Android 13 and later due to Intent filter changes introduced by Google. An emulator update is required before Redream becomes usable again.
### Vita3K
This PlayStation Vita emulator can be downloaded from their GitHub site:
The Play store version of this emulator is getting frequent updates and is therefore recommended. There's an Early Access version as well which is also recommended.
| atarist | Atari ST [also STE and Falcon] | Hatari | | Yes | Single archive or image file for single-diskette games, .m3u playlist for multi-diskette games |
| c64 | Commodore 64 | VICE x64sc Accurate | VICE x64 Fast,<br>VICE x64 SuperCPU,<br>VICE x128,<br>C64.emu **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or image file for tape, cartridge or single-diskette games, .m3u playlist for multi-diskette games |
| dreamcast | Sega Dreamcast | Flycast | Flycast **(Standalone)**,<br>Redream **(Standalone)** | No | In separate folder interpreted as a file, with .m3u playlist if multi-disc game |
| easyrpg | EasyRPG Game Engine | EasyRPG | | No | |
| electron | Acorn Electron | _Placeholder_ | | | |
| famicom | Nintendo Family Computer | Mesen | Nestopia UE,<br>FCEUmm,<br>QuickNES,<br>NES.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Nesoid **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| fds | Nintendo Famicom Disk System | Mesen | Nestopia UE,<br>FCEUmm,<br>NES.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Nesoid **(Standalone)** | Yes | Single archive or ROM file |
| gameandwatch | Nintendo Game and Watch | Multi (MESS) | MAME4droid 2024 **(Standalone)**,<br>Handheld Electronic (GW) | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| gb | Nintendo Game Boy | Gambatte | SameBoy,<br>Gearboy,<br>TGB Dual,<br>DoubleCherryGB,<br>Mesen-S,<br>bsnes,<br>mGBA,<br>VBA-M,<br>GBC.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Pizza Boy GBC **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| gba | Nintendo Game Boy Advance | mGBA | VBA-M,<br>VBA Next,<br>gpSP,<br>GBA.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Pizza Boy GBA **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| gbc | Nintendo Game Boy Color | Gambatte | SameBoy,<br>Gearboy,<br>TGB Dual,<br>DoubleCherryGB,<br>Mesen-S,<br>bsnes,<br>mGBA,<br>VBA-M,<br>GBC.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Pizza Boy GBC **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| mastersystem | Sega Master System | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>SMS Plus GX,<br>Gearsystem,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| megacd | Sega Mega-CD | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | Yes | |
| megacdjp | Sega Mega-CD [Japan] | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | Yes | |
| megadrive | Sega Mega Drive | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| megadrivejp | Sega Mega Drive [Japan] | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| n3ds | Nintendo 3DS | Citra | Citra **(Standalone)** [Play store version or Nightly],<br>Citra Canary **(Standalone)**,<br>Citra MMJ **(Standalone)** | No | Single ROM file |
| nds | Nintendo DS | melonDS DS | melonDS @,<br>melonDS **(Standalone)**,<br>DeSmuME,<br>DeSmuME 2015,<br>DraStic **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| nes | Nintendo Entertainment System | Mesen | Nestopia UE,<br>FCEUmm,<br>QuickNES,<br>NES.emu **(Standalone)**,<br>Nesoid **(Standalone)** | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| plus4 | Commodore Plus/4 | VICE xplus4 | | No | Single archive or image file for tape, cartridge or single-diskette games, .m3u playlist for multi-diskette games |
| pokemini | Nintendo Pokémon Mini | PokeMini | | No | |
| segacd | Sega CD | Genesis Plus GX | Genesis Plus GX Wide,<br>PicoDrive,<br>MD.emu **(Standalone)** | Yes | |
| sfc | Nintendo SFC (Super Famicom) | Snes9x - Current | Snes9x 2010,<br>Snes9x EX+ **(Standalone)**,<br>bsnes,<br>bsnes-hd,<br>bsnes-mercury Accuracy,<br>Beetle Supafaust,<br>Mesen-S | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| snes | Nintendo SNES (Super Nintendo) | Snes9x - Current | Snes9x 2010,<br>Snes9x EX+ **(Standalone)**,<br>bsnes,<br>bsnes-hd,<br>bsnes-mercury Accuracy,<br>Beetle Supafaust,<br>Mesen-S | No | Single archive or ROM file |
| snesna | Nintendo SNES (Super Nintendo) [North America] | Snes9x - Current | Snes9x 2010,<br>Snes9x EX+ **(Standalone)**,<br>bsnes,<br>bsnes-hd,<br>bsnes-mercury Accuracy,<br>Beetle Supafaust,<br>Mesen-S | No | Single archive or ROM file |
