3DS emulation on Android is now better than ever, thanks to Azahar's biggest update yet

Nintendo 3DS emulation has seen a major resurgence in interest with dual-screen gaming handhelds like the AYN Thor and Pocket DS coming out, but its best emulator hasn’t seen a new stable release in five months. Today, that streak ends, with Azahar Release 2124 dropping what its developers promise to be its “largest update ever.”

One of the most significant changes for Android users is a simple default settings tweak, which yields a noticeable decrease in input latency. Previous versions had Vsync enabled by default as a way to reduce screen tearing in games. However, Android has its own frame pacing feature that performs a similar function. It has now been disabled by default, with the code around it cleaned up and consolidated.

This update also adds a unique feature from the desktop build: ROM compression and decompression. This only works on decrypted ROMs, but the developers’ tests have shown that it can reduce 3DS game file sizes by anywhere from 30-45%. The feature has also been enhanced on desktop, where batch compression is now possible. However, Azahar still doesn’t run .3ds files, due to their roots in 3DS game piracy.

Other features have also been imported from the desktop build, including background color, second screen opacity, and audio emulation settings. There’s also a new toggle to hide Azahar’s 3DS image files from Android photo galleries, and the UI supports refresh rates above 60Hz to keep things looking smooth. In-game emulation is still limited to 60Hz to save on battery life.

As a result of these changes, the minimum supported version of Android has been bumped to Android 10. Those still using Android 9 will need to stick to Release 2123.4.1 or older.

The latest version adds other tweaks and changes, including a new emulated cartridge insertion function that adds games to the emulated Home screen as if they were inserted into the card slot. However, note that the Home screen feature requires sending over files from a modded 3DS. If you haven’t already modded your 3DS, you’ve been missing out.

Check out the full patch notes for the complete list of changes, as well as links to download the latest builds. The Google Play version was released simultaneously, so you can also update it there.