RetroArch comes to Apple TV on the App Store! Game and controller tutorial

[@y0sh1rulez]

Almost 5 years ago I ported RetroArch to tvOS (and all of its cores) and got the changes into the main code line so it’s great to see it be the #1 app on the App Store for AppleTV after all this time! Thanks for showcasing this.

[@ScentlessSun]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[@ScentlessSun]

I encountered this issue where I had all 5500 games I loaded on my Apple TV wiped out. What are your thoughts on a way to leverage network storage for roms? "tvOS does not provide apps with a persistant storage area; instead it allows for up to 500kb meant for configuration data. The disk space shown through the web UI is a cache space. If the OS needs to reclaim disk space, it will delete files from that cache space without warning. This includes state and saves! When this happens, you will immediately see that the appearance of RetroArch is wrong, as the assets will need to be re-downloaded."

[@mukiex4413]

I'm now curious to know how the input/display/audio latency can be tweaked across Apple devices from an A12 to an M4.

[@CarlosCajiaoV]

@@ScentlessSunsadly I haven’t found any info to resolve this issue!!

[@ScentlessSun]

@@CarlosCajiaoV I haven’t either.

[@dkorati]

Retroarch on Apple TV!

[@Bagan95]

Thank you! If you have sound problem (stutter) change the sdr mode from 50hz to 60 hz in video setting directly on the Apple TV (not retroarch)

[@zidane6520]

This works very well on my 2015 Apple TV HD (with the A8 chip). Does NES, SNES, GB, GBA,GG, Genesis, GBA, and PS1 very well. Most N64 titles didn’t work, but Mario 64 tested well. Works well with switch pro and ps4 controllers. Only the most basic crt shaders work, but they’re great for pixel games. It only has 32GBs of storage though, so not a lot of space for a proper ps1 library.

[@joewozniak2231]

Finally a good reason to have a large capacity Apple TV. Definitely doing this with my 128gb.

[@shivavision23]

Not really, you don't need much space for these retro games. But since the price difference between the two models is small, it has always made sense to buy the bigger one.

[@worfrozhenko4032]

The 128GB also has a wired Ethernet port

[@shivavision23]

@@worfrozhenko4032 So?

[@linuxes9681]

​@@shivavision23Nah. Once you get to PS1 and PSP and maybe higher consoles now eventually. Space is gonna go quicker than you think.

[@louwar96]

man im really stoked. I consider myself a former gamer and i no longer own a console or PC. something like this on my apple tv is just fantastic for some casual gaming and to share some old games with my kids as well

[@cristhianortiz]

Can also hard close the app using the dualsense controller. Press the PS button twice to show the app switcher, and press up to close RetroArch.

[@dfkjbdfondfngg]

This brings me so much joy, and even more wonderful memories :) Thanks. I just started setting up my games there now

[@Deebofreebo]

Oh man, I love this, although I tried setting it up and the ps5 controller is just way laggy. Not sure what to do…

[@gambitgambitgambit]

This is exactly what I was thinking could be a problem. Thanks for sharing

[@jamest8959]

Check your tv set to game mode for retro arch

[@Luke17d]

What can I do when it deletes my rom folder after a month? 😢I have screensaver disabled

[@SchizofentRecords]

wow i just got an apple tv last month too

[@gorbypranata]

Any workaround to this? “tvOS does not provide apps with a persistant storage area; instead it allows for up to 500kb meant for configuration data. The disk space shown through the web UI is a cache space. If the OS needs to reclaim disk space, it will delete files from that cache space without warning. This includes state and saves! When this happens, you will immediately see that the appearance of RetroArch is wrong, as the assets will need to be re-downloaded.”

[@ScentlessSun]

Good to know. I need to delete a few apps. 😂

[@chinito77]

Just waiting for Yuzu on AppleTV and I'm set for a long while! Meanwhile this vid was very helpful.

[@EddyOver9000]

Well unfortunately it got taken down about 2 months ago because of nintendo 😔

[@alaisdair]

BEST tutorial! Thank you so much

[@tonyrosario1940]

I set RetroArch up on my Apple TV a few days ago, Roms, settings, etc. Today, after the update, all of that is gone, no roms, nothing. Anyone else having this issue?

[@strangedays1984]

Read the devs description, don’t bother with this until it’s fixed… see top comment above

[@tonyrosario1940]

Devs description mentions nothing about this not working properly for Apple TV. But I agree, all should avoid using this until Apple changes their persistent storage limits on Apple TV. 🍻

[@FlintG]

Its about time hopefully more emulators come to the app store. This just made the apple tv a lot more fun.

[@dannycollee]

Thanks so much for this superb explanation!

[@KeilorT]

Could you please show us how to load mame roms? Thanks!!

[@TurboCanapé]

Thanks for the tutorial! Is it normal that I get sound stuttering in all games (including low CPU hungry games)?

[@pratafwd]

is it possible to install other MAME cores? and run Arcade games on it?, please do a tutorial if possible!!!

[@Hermskillet89]

Wow 🤯 can’t wait to try this!

[@MotownBatman]

Hell Yea! Thanks for the Heads Up Brotha!

[@simoncurtain]

Thank you for your explanation

[@tonyrosario1940]

An article from 9to5Mac confirms that the Apple TV only allows 500 kb, yes kilobytes, of persistent storage per app. This is why roms and settings in the RetroArch app are randomly being deleted every few days, also when an update hits the app. This basically makes RetroArch unusable on Apple TV. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ibrayanyT]

Can you pair 2 controllers to play against your friends? Or Mario kart with multiple players?

[@MrMphitch]

Yes you can 👍🏼

[@SeanBradley1986]

I think it needs to be a newer Apple TV because I can’t get this working on my 2021 4k model 😢

[@slugzz-]

Able to get it working?

[@SeanBradley1986]

@@slugzz- I did! I switched the video from “Vulcan” to one of the other two options and it worked!

Thanks!

[@dirkdex]

How can I add more games? I clicked “don’t show again”, and now I don’t know the address of my appletv to send over the games!

[@anuarw7455]

Where do I get the game files

[@djkim0701]

iPad Pro too?

[@Nutricris]

Podrías enseñar a cómo emular ps2 en retroarch en Apple TV o iPad pro ? Pleaseee

[@chrisryan8894]

Which is the lowest gen  tv this will run on ?

[@shakeitoff1000]

Can't believe I can finally retire my 7 year old Pi AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

[@BobsMaginty]

Nice one, thank you!👍👍

[@MrEandc4life]

Thank you, little advice, should blur your own ip

[@dawsonschamber]

Definitely not his ip address because mine is the exact same numbers as his

[@WhiskeyThieves]

How does one get Mame games to run with this setup?

[@BrianAnderson-tk9dn]

Patiently waiting for Dreamcast core support…

[@DIOS_PRIMERO]

Wow Very cool Thanks

[@marcelchesterman5420]

are you able to run scumm VM in retroarch. It always crashs when I try to run it on my M2 mac when trying to open the core

[@DJToneZone]

I am having a hard time figuring out how to go back to the main menu of the app once in a game when I have my Switch NES controller connected to the  TV. Can you map the Select button to be the retroarch menu button?

[@Alex_U]

I think you should set it in Hotkeys menu of retroach. I have Select+down to bring out retroarch menu

[@boro057]

When I set a hotkey it doesn’t save. The default (that I see at least) is L1 + R1 + down + Y. Y being from a Nintendo layout, so square on a PS controller.

[@happyspaceinvader508]

@@boro057Whenever you make changes to the settings, you must save them via: Main Menu > Configuration > Save Current Configuration

[@rez9159]

@@boro057 This didn't work for my XBOX controller too. Changing to 2 second hold of select button worked.

[@BustamanteRoberto]

can you play gamecube games in apple tv ?

[@pinoyguy4271]

Can you explain how to get PSP games to work? Mine crashes every time I try to load it

[@andrewtsaitips]

People have been reporting PSP games crashing on RetroArch iOS, need to wait for an update.

[@BL_Angel]

@@andrewtsaitipsHi Andrew do you think they will port PPSSPP to the AppleTV ?

[@mousqy]

i have been able to load up patapon but game runs too fast

[@RickYkciR]

Is player 2 (2nd controller) is possible ?

[@tonyrosario1940]

Dumb question, are the roms being stored or transferred to the internal Apple TV storage?

[@mister-tee]

Yes

[@tonyrosario1940]

@@mister-tee ok thanks, so no go on putting entire rom collections on this, haha 🍻

[@FatManDinero]

What type of Apple TV Is required?

[@BeamerTime354]

Wish I could just run the roms from my massive hdd that’s on the computer. 16tb of roms won’t fit on my Apple TV 😂

[@boro057]

There’s a lot that’s still half baked with the TvOS version. I’m hoping they put a little more time into fixing the bugs and allowing for networked drives. Maybe setting up a Bluetooth keyboard and just typing in the network path might work?

[@phantomstarproductions4587]

URL on my Apple TV doesn’t work

[@aym__beast2103]

Can i play ps2 games please tech us how.????

[@markanderson5207]

No dos core on the iOS one?

[@Unminusbekannt]

How can i install the PS2 Core? Want to play Need For Speed Underground 2

[@MRfyleas75]

Awesome 🤩

[@Lowaza]

i have my games stored in onedrive, anyway to run the roms for retroarch directly from onedrive for IOS?

[@ScentlessSun]

You can’t mount a OneDrive shared folder like it’s an SMB file share or network drive without a 3rd party utility. I’ve only ever seen one such utility and it was compiled for a Windows x86 architecture. There’s no way I can think of that this could be done. You also couldn’t stream the file..

[@seemoremacstuff]

Finally a use for the 128GB of storage on my Apple TV lol

[@MegaAlektra]

Hmm cant get it to work, when i launch tekken i can hear the game in the bsckground but the screen is black with a controller, the black screen is flickerinh but cant see tekken

[@somekidnamedkyle]

the website that retroarch shows doesn't load on my mac laptop or windows PC that is on the same network as the apple tv. anyone else have this issue or know how to fix?

[@leeocarvaalho1]

Same issue here 😵‍💫

[@DavidBurns-sq4kd]

Only has a few cores ?

[@soleanna14]

Can this run on older Apple TVs?

[@alexythimia23]

I don’t know what’s going on but ps1 is not working for me, have the correct bios in the system folder yet says “missing” It just seems really buggy compared to my steamdeck

[@datmap1]

Is there anyway to swtich game in retroArch ?

[@tonyrosario1940]

How is the input lag on the controller connected to the Apple TV?

[@ltucker987]

Thankfully, there is no input lag. It’s just as if your controller was connected to a gaming console or Mac/PC.

[@tonyrosario1940]

@@ltucker987 great, can’t wait to try it 🍻🤘🏼

[@perrub]

But dont forget to turn Game Mode on your TV. Inwas having input lag and that was the reason

[@tonyrosario1940]

@@perrub game mode is always on, for sure 🍻👍🏼

[@Kingwizrd539]

what system can a apple tv 4th Gen run up to ? anyone have a thought im safely assuming up to atleast a psp

[@Skvj777]

How to play PS2 games on it ?

[@TrangNguyen-ne6qs]

is it single player only

[@YoshiIsCool1]

Awesome

[@tymepilot8471]

how can add more cores

[@robifrancisco9508]

Where did you download the file for tekken 3

[@CLAMBAKED]

It’s not letting me select settings or main menu on mine

[@jeysmoothies]

How do you do this with GBA games

[@vigneshraja3771]

Can we play multiplayer mode in Tekken by pairing two controllers to Apple TV?

[@andrewtsaitips]

Yep!

[@boomshakalaka7912]

Is there a way to add files using an iPad or iPhone only? Not a pc.

[@andrewtsaitips]

Yes just enter the same IP address and make sure your iPad or iPhone is on the same network as the Apple TV.

[@boomshakalaka7912]

@@andrewtsaitips got it thanks

[@01dt1m3r]

I tried to play a ps1 game, used the same core you mentioned in the video but it didn’t work. I tried the other core but I got an error sch5500.bin is missing, I know that is the bios file and I already have it on my laptop I’m just not sure where to put it on the app !?

[@andrewtsaitips]

Put it in the system folder, hope that helps! I explain where to put it in my iPad RetroArch tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3iWkK2OaJ6ima8

[@kansein9294]

@@andrewtsaitips can you tell me where can I download the game

[@randywatson3942]

Why does it delete all my roms after a week

[@amroelnour]

Warning ⚠️ apple tv deletes the files automatically (not sure why), I lost all my files all of a sudden including the saves after couple of days very disappointing

[@matthewgrainger3256]

The Apple TV only allows apps 512kb of storage so apps use the cache which disappears after a while. Hopefully Apple will change this

[@MrTitoButler]

Do you have to do it on a computer to transfer the files? It’s not working on my iPad web browser

[@andrewtsaitips]

Make sure iPad is on the same network.

[@rez9159]

I had no problems with accessing the Apple TV via Safari on iPhone. Seems to be a network issue.

[@IgnacioTecno]

I downloaded the application from the App Store and when I try to open it, it doesn't open the application, someone else happens to it?

[@gr10110]

Im in the us and retro ain’t showing up in the app store anyone know y ?

[@victorromero8010]

My roms are stored on a Windows desktop hooked up to the Internet via Ethernet cable. Will this method still work?

[@andrewtsaitips]

Yes as long as it's on the same network.

[@victorromero8010]

@@andrewtsaitips Does that mean I would have to set up wi-fi on it?

[@WhiteHawk77]

@@victorromero8010depends on what version of the Apple TV 4K you have, the base 65GB model doesn’t have a Ethernet connection, the 128GB model does.

[@erik93203]

My game MK64 is going too fast.

[@MobileDecay]

Nintendo has job positions opened up for more Ninjas.

[@DauntlessDamian]

Nice to have, but a little pointless until Apple removes the persistent storage restriction. Game files and saves could be deleted at any time without warning.

[@andrewtsaitips]

Yes I’ll be making a video on how to sync all settings via WebDAV.

[@Drummer7e7]

None of the ROMS i'm downloading are working. Any tips? do they need to be zip? .7z?

[@tabathagano1014]

Yes you need a izip type app

[@DouglasHeath-v4k]

will this work with PS1 games in chd format?

[@synonys]

Yes!

[@kevinmckenna5682]

Ok, what's that case you're using for your AppleTV controller?

[@patricklasko1360]

Let me enlighten you good sir. RetroArch in XMB (gui) mode, the remote control inputs are wonky afk...this issues also effects Android tablets (example; Samsung devices) via touch screen & Amazon FireTV with the included remote. So yeah, a gamepad, mouse & keyboard are recommended for a proper tuning (setup).

[@kevinmckenna5682]

@@patricklasko1360 Thanks, but I was asking him about the black case on his AppleTV controller, not the gamepad he was also using.

[@cynicalcitizen]

Anyone else having issues trying to import. It shows RetroArch directory is empty from Apple TV. Works fine on iPhone/iPad

[@cynicalcitizen]

Found solution. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5O6dIuPq7V_Z8k

[@LiRaye]

finally 🎉

[@MrSamPhoenix]

This is… W😮W

[@ppj845]

Is PSP working on yours? Open up psp games on mine instantly crashes

[@patricklasko1360]

It's because Apple don't allow access to architecture coding (JIT computer language) meaning it's running Software emulation...in sort term, apps like PPSSP are not utilizing all the CPU, GPU an so on. Some roms will run but sometimes with missing texture or will crash (thanks apple).

[@outrowender]

@@patricklasko1360 Are you sure JIT is required in PPSSPP core for tvOS? iOS version works just fine without JIT

[@ppj845]

They updated the app, PSP works now. A staff replied on Reddit

[@anderslarsen7174]

This is not just plug and play, takes forever and you have to be tech savy to

[@volport.]

wow

[@espressomatic]

Maybe one day someone will build a decent replacement UI for Retroarch (for iOS), as using it as a front-end makes for an abysmal experience. Especially with their trash interpretation of XMB. I'm guessing we'll eventually see LaunchBox make its way to iOS, because if there's anything its developer likes more than crapping on his user base, it's making loads of money.

[@herranton]

Ark is a boat. Arc is a curved line. Both are pronounced with a hard k sound at the end. An arch is a curving structure and is pronounced with a ch sound like at the beginning of the word choose or cheese. Like the gateway arch in St. Louis. Or arches national park. How do so many people get it wrong. It just hurts my ears.

[@Ajibolaa]

Same spelling-ish

[@bhoqeem1975]

Yeah. It’s high time to buy Apple TV box. I’ve been meaning to. Just now found the reason. Goodbye AAA games. Good move, Apple!

[@bhoqeem1975]

@GarrusVakarian-to2uh Ah, I see. Thanks for the heads up. What about the PPSSPP, is it current?

[@DJordydj]

@GarrusVakarian-to2uh for when the next version?

[@barryalexander219]

Slow down Bro you speaking too fast

[@drewf6063]

Is he speaking too fast, or are you listening slow? In either case, you can change the playback speed playa

[@sheldonruth5404]

Use 0.75 playback speed

[@runforrestrun1965]

Way too fast man, slow down please.

[@jeysmoothies]

Slow down you’re going way too fast it’s as if you’re nervous

[@thailazyguy]

Can it add more cores in this version?

[@BrianAnderson-tk9dn]

Patiently waiting for Dreamcast core support…

[@farisomeragic8900]

You have flycast

[@alibramadan3152]

Does ps1 games works without bios files?

[@farisomeragic8900]

Yes when you use pcsx rearmed core