The best 3DS emulator now has dual-screen support, just in time for dual-screen handhelds

Android gaming handhelds are right in the middle of a dual-screen rennaisance, but all of that will mean little of the software doesn’t support it. Early handhelds, like the awkward transforming SUGAR 1, used workarounds to get 3DS games to display on both screens, but a new update means those workarounds are a thing of the past.

The Nintendo 3DS emulator Azahar, which continues the work of the now-defunct Citra, just dropped release 2123.3 with some big changes to how the app handles secondary displays. Now, the app can output to both screen simultaneously, with touch screen support on both. It also incorporates a fix for the Retroid Dual-Screen Add on to rotate the top screen.

Most of the code comes from a developer called SapphireRhodonite, who has been working on dual-screen forks of popular emulators like Azahar, MelonDS, and Cemu for the past few months. In collaboration with AYANEO, he received an early sample unit of the Pocket DS for testing. This is the first time his work is being added to an official release, although his fixes have also been merged into the MelonDS Android port for a future release.

This update comes just in time, as two major dual-screen devices are set to begin shipping soon. The first is the AYANEO Pocket DS, with a massive 7-inch screen and a powerful Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 processor. The second is the AYN Thor, with a smaller form factor and a more affordable price.

Prior to either of these releases, Retroid released the Dual Screen Add-on accessory, which plugs into any handheld that supports external displays for a 3DS-like experience. However, the screen’s native orientation is vertical, causing some extreme input delay in the intial release. Fixes have since been released by the company, but for most devices, they need to be implemented at the emulator level.

Release 2123.3 has a few other minor changes, so check out the full patch notes on the official GitHub. The update has already been pushed to the Play Store listing, so update the app to get started with dual-screen 3DS emulation.