Android Emulation Starter Guide (2022)

The Android operating system is found everywhere -- on phones, tablets, retro handheld devices, media streaming devices, and even some TVs. This guide is meant to help you get acquainted with retro game emulation on any number of Android devices.
Full written guide: retrogamecorps...
Devices featured in this video:
LG V60 phone: ebay.us/SQXSIm
Chuwi HiPad Pro: amzn.to/3JbM4x9
AYN Odin: www.indiegogo....
Retroid Pocket 2+: www.goretroid....
Anbernic RG552: s.click.aliexp...
PowKiddy X18S: s.click.aliexp...
Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:32 devices & accessories
05:38 initial setup & adding games
09:50 customizing the layout & emulators
14:28 frontend showcase
19:32 my preferred setup
22:53 summary & conclusion
If you want to support the channel, please consider Patreon: / retrogamecorps
Find me on Discord! / discord
Theme song sampled from "Rosetta" by T-120:
/ rosetta
Note that this description may contain affiliate links. By clicking on an affiliate link and buying something, I may earn a small commission of the sale at no extra cost to you.
This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only.
#Android #Emulation #RetroGaming

[@Vrain456]

The fact that we have people who would help people explore the catalogue of so many great games and have it on a phone where you take pretty much everywhere you go and it takes no time to setup is amazing

[@TheFTPchannel]

The internet as an open Library is what it was ment for and this is that at its finest ❤🎉

[@cameronvandygriff7048]

​@TheFTPchannel like it sucks how such a small portion of people who would be using the internet to pirate modern games is why we can't just straight up have a retro gaming app that is just an easy to install emulator and catalogue for free

[@boothman9321]

Great set up guide. Thanks for putting the work in and paving the road so other's can get to where they want to be at without the frustration.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Thanks Boothman!

[@geoffreyweston9835]

@@RetroGameCorps Quick question, I don’t have a computer but I do have 2019 kindle fire had 10, will that allow me to put roms on a SD card and remove the card so I can use it for my other android device that has my emulators on?

[@N0mad1600]

​@@RetroGameCorps Do you have a recommendation for a ATV Launcher replacement? It's either not available any more or not compatible with Android 12+

[@RetroGameCorps]

@@N0mad1600 I would recommend trying Daijisho, it works really well. You may have to side-load it from their GitHub if it's not in the Play Store.

[@MrBrandonbarlow]

Friendly reminder on android you can remove apps on the “desktop” and it will still be installed and show in the app drawer. No need for the misc folders. Great video!

[@TrippyStack]

It depends on the phone. Most can hide everything, but I've definitely seen some phones with a default launcher that abandons the app drawer and just stuffs everything on the home screen like an iPhone. But the beauty of Android is you can always download a custom launcher, if you want the Android look over one of the frontends.

[@rithugokulk3267]

Friendly reminder that there is standard mode and drawer mode.

[@JamieR]

Niagara launcher ❤

[@father042]

What I love about emulation on phones and PCs is that it's really easy to set up and you don't have to do much hacking or tinkering, you just download and install some emulators from the store, put your roms in a folder, do some minor tweaks and you're ready to go With something like Vita or 3DS you have to hack them which might be intimidating at first and with retro handhelds you also have to install your own firmware because the stock one usually sucks

[@robmalcolm8042]

Same thing for iPhone and iPad even tho they can emulate their ass off cause of the powerful cpu and gpu it’s just so harder to do compared to android which is why I prefer android although I have been trying to do that altstore crap on iPhone too

[@zaytaz9331]

Yea but how do you get the ROMS????? LIME WHERE DO U HET TJE ROMS IM SO CONFUSED

[@zaytaz9331]

@@lucykaede5863 ok ty

[@igee1605]

@@zaytaz9331 where do you get them?

[@niveZz-]

@@zaytaz9331 google is your friend

[@IronbugVR]

Dude, just went to your written tutorial the find a link and WOW. You have nailed what an amazing tutorial should be. So easy to find information and follow. You even had the information for my after thoughts I had and wanted more knowledge on. If anyone is looking to learn more on Android systems and emulation, you need to bookmark this tutorial. 💯

[@alexkid6027]

You are a real asset to the KZbin gaming community. I love your channel and the way you explain things

[@minimoe2807]

This will become the definitive guide for many many folks for years to come.

[@toneslice989]

Ok I'm going for it. Im going to try to set up my G Cloud to do all this stuff. I wish I had hands-on help, but this is really amazing. You are the go-to for set ups. I've done a lot of research, and you are the best. Thanks again!

[@yelnatspowerzz4970]

last year was under 5k subs to now the leading authority on all things retro keep up the great work!!

[@Radalku]

Hey, at this point i would like to say how cool i think your videos are. They inspired and guided me through some projects and since a couple of days I felt in love with my RG351V. In addition to that I boot my old Xiaomi Redmi 4x up for N64, PSP and PS1 emulation. It works fine! Send you best wishes from Germany, stay healthy Chris

[@Ich497]

ich finde ihn auch super,hab das ganze auch mit meinem altem handy gemacht

[@Radalku]

@@Ich497 total gut. Auf meinem redmi 4x läuft alles bis ps1. Darüber hinaus leider nix. :( aber es gibt ja eine große Bibliothek! Viel Spaß dir beim zocken!

[@Ich497]

@@Radalku danke dir auch

[@mitchthepreacher1512]

After having my Retroid Pocket 2+ delayed for a third time, I decided to cancel my order and grab a used s10e (SD variant). This video was exactly what I needed the moment I needed it. Nice one!

[@dmee5002]

Does ps2 emulation work on your s10e?

[@mitchthepreacher1512]

YES, quite well actually. @@dmee5002

[@chibonchibon3967]

You are a legend, its hard to make this kind of vids

[@Finn_Anwarunya]

12:26 "And then it'll ask you 'do you really wanna install it?' And then you say 'Of course. Yeah man, I wanna do it.'" Idk why, but this killed me! Comedy gold!

[@DragonDreamVNY]

I love for this catchphrase. Also Chicken. I think the Cat breaks should be a shout-out point for more members on Patreon 👍

[@iggyman83]

Great guide, I also use Lemuroid which is even easier: one app, no retro arch and no front end. Obviously a limited set of cores, but the principle of simplicity is nice, and I find it plays nicely on HDMI out and even removes touch controls when it detects a controller.

[@rolandbrooks386]

Duckstation is great for psp

[@Teja]

thanks for letting me nkow about lemuroid :)

[@sw1tchpoint]

Been waiting for this guide, looking forward to getting the Ayn Odin and using this guide as a go to for some ideas on how to set up

[@christianmercado5510]

5:54 “you sign your life away” 😂😂😂 Well played sir 😎

[@LordRobb.]

Awasome video, exactly what I needed because I just got an Odin 2 and I'm new to the whole thing 😊

[@boxcarpilot30]

this was a breeze to setup using a Tab S7+ and DEX mode. thanks dude

[@MrThrash4life]

Right on, setting up on tab s8 ultra, hoping to have it b my gaming machine away from home.

[@puschigraf5609]

First of for all thanks for all your Videos! I could finally set up an android setup for my home collection❤️Just wanted to mention, there is a Frontend named Daijisho now that looks quite good and is fast (for my experience). And it's seen as a launcher by Android. You can put it as a main launcher, so when you press a home button on a controller or the device you get straight to the frontend no matter which player you are using right now😊

[@golvellius6855]

Thank you

[@CSHummer]

Thanks so much Russ! Exactly what I was looking for. Wind be nice to see a dedicated front-end setup tutorial for all the major ones.

[@redactedc1928]

Just started getting into this. This is insane. I'm in love.

[@kill_repeat8491]

I have a Samsung Galaxy tablet and was having a lot of issues with streaming from my PC and PS4 until I realized just how HUGE a difference your controller and it's connection can make. The best advice I could give is to buy a nice cable and connect the controller wired.

[@taylorlawrence3570]

My Odin just arrived and I'm really looking forward to the Odin specific guide once I pick it up.

[@hodoric4525]

Thanks Russ. This is exactly what I was looking for how to use my old Galaxy s10e with snapdragon 855

[@Guairebot]

I just bought a GLAP second hand for a great price and Its been one of the best decisions Ive made in this emulation area. the only real issue I have is that I am using my personal phone that I use regularly so charge is kinda a problem but still been awesome. also I couldn't find many good reviews for the GLAP because it was kind of a failure lol but, if anyone was looking at finding a second hand GLAP I would 100% recommend it, its super comfortable, has great charge and bluetooth latency isn't an issue (for emulators). plus my phone doesn't fit in the razor Kishi so there wasn't much choice lol.

[@leosunger]

Always been curious about the whole emulation thing for a long while since I watch some emulator for the Vita. This might interesting guide to try it out in the future.

[@Shauny_D]

We need a retroarch and external controller tutorial. I've having endless issues with it!

[@AlexBaldwinFTW]

Excellent video, I got back into emulation in January and it's been excellent.

[@magical_unicorie]

Very cool guide! I just remembered I have an old LG V30 lying around, I wonder how it would perform lol.

[@StubbsStuff]

Brilliant work here!

[@wickedportablegaming]

Great Tutorial 👌, thanks for the indepth video buddy !

[@gavinriley]

“This is Russ and Chicken from Retro Game Corps”

[@pandabearmadness6263]

I'm finally getting my odin handheld I can't wait to do this

[@gavinriley]

Thanks from Baltimore, Russ and Chicken!! -DinoParkTycoon

[@Razor_Burn]

Cheers Russ, greatly appreciated!

[@ruffnutts]

Great video Russ, nice and detailed easy to follow ;)

[@asnasc]

This is an amazing video (plus the written guide!) but I have only ONE question: how all those frontends process the ROM files? Do they compute file hashes or they just rely on the filenames to import all the metadata? If the filenames are important, do you have any guidance on which app to use to bulk rename everything? My collection is on the hundreds of GB, it´s impossible to manually rename everything.... It´d be great if you make a video about some nice utility for bulk naming everything!!!

[@YoshiIsCool1]

Your Videos are always Helpful Bro Thanks So Much.

[@sunnymondays6106]

Thank you so much for the video and the written guide. It's because of you I can now play my old favourites. Also using your links and videos I've now got a Miyoo Mini Plus, Anbernic 35XX Plus and H and most recently the Trimui Pro. Just wondering if you realised you were using the low power mode when you were testing games for the Trimui (because the button on the bottom isn't labeled). There was another review on KZbin which noticed this but I really like your channel so wondered if you might do a 3DS and PSP game testing video for the Trimui Pro?

[@lucyrockets62]

Love ya & the show man

[@flexalex01]

Excellent guide. Thank you.

[@ginyumusic]

you can recreate the big tiles in nova launcher as well and it's actually a MUCH more feature rich launcher than the atv one and much more customizable.

[@Adroit1911]

I like nova launcher too.

[@jasonshiers5771]

Thanks for this Russ as I’m a bit useless when it comes to android.

[@xxedgy_outsiderxx9978]

what do you do when an emulators ignores your controller

[@meseyoungboy]

wow wasnt expecting it to be a lg v60🤩

[@I4get42]

Getting ready for a new toy, thank you again!!

[@tongoso]

Thanks much for this!

[@manuelgurrola]

Thanks, man. This is really useful.

[@totalpartykill999]

i just remember 10 years ago when i really wanted to get into emulation and i was serious about learning it. i had a really cheap phone at first and i would just emulate the GameBoy Advance. then my next device was an Amazon Fire tablet, which i had to learn about sideloading, because you couldnt access the play store. then i got into Galaxy tablets, now having finally upgraded to an S8 plus. i have learned about emulators, emulator settings, mirroring to a TV, how to set up microSD cards...basically how to turn any mobile device into a real gaming console.

[@ChubbyChecker182]

The Gamesir x2 is very very good in my experience.

[@steel5897]

I hated smartphone gaming for years, until I got this controller and it was a game changer. I'm scared of messing up the USB plug though, it feels so fragile.

[@jorgedavidfeitovillar8745]

Gran video! Siempre me gustan tus vídeos

[@digitalxtremehg]

Great stuff as always .

[@driftsc2gaming779]

I bought an lg v60 just for this purpose, comes in tomorrow. I have an iPhone and don’t feel like jailbreaking it

[@PureGaming6866]

Your work is always impressive

[@SuperIlikepotatos]

i miss your old intro so damn much

[@alanmckay4871]

Can you do a guide on ripping your own roms rather than the grey area of downloading them. I have ps1, ps2, 3do and gamecube discs and would like to know if and how it can be done

[@homebrw91]

Thanks for all the hard work. This is working great on my surface pro. As for my Nvidia shield it has been difficult since RetroArch can not see my thumb drive that has houses all my games. I believe the most recent android updated screwed things up.

[@Asomii]

oh shiet you played another eden! Great pick!

[@AlienSnowflake]

Aaaa yes thanks! I am such a n00b on this XD I got a x18s Ultra anz it came with nothing XD This is such a big help coz I just started doing retro stuff this year ♡

[@gogolplex74]

I have tried emulating older games on my phone and while it felt nice for PSP and DS the screen was too wide with huge black bars so I decided to buy a handheld for systems like PS1 and below

[@RetroGameCorps]

Agreed, nothing beats a dedicated handheld!

[@guilhermeramalho3137]

Did any of you figured a workaround to connect the phone to the TV with a USB-C to HDMI adapter? I was trying to do that and found out that the phone needs to support MHL(Mobile High Definition Link) in order to send the image signal to the TV.

[@terpfan1980]

If you have a written guide or a video that shows more indepth how to work with Duckstation, I'd love to see same.

[@YoshiIsCool1]

Nice!!!

[@fernandorosero883]

thanks the video. Also mention that in Android 11 launchbox has problems with certain emulators, such as ppsspp

[@xt6997]

Something to know about the gamesir x2 is that a company using stolen code from yuzu (a nintendo switch emulator on pc.) Is piggybacking off of this controller by making the stolen emulator on android work with only this controller.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Yes, unfortunately I'm aware. I deliberately don't show that emulator on my channel for that reason.

[@xt6997]

@@RetroGameCorps really the best way so to not give these guys any attention.

[@xt6997]

@@RetroGameCorps i just hope gamesir didnt raise the price of this controller due to that.

[@jwcatalano3867]

So many people seem to be able to do this just fine. IDK if im just dumb but this shit is hard af for me to figure out,.

[@deku_man_x]

You are awesome, i just started today to but and test Emulators on my spare Android Phone. Thank you for this helpful Video. 😍🤘

[@joeywilbur9182]

I use DIG . The others are just to damn complicated. Nice video tho, thanks

[@GTA-qv8pk]

Retroarch is just too complicated for me.

[@joeywilbur9182]

@@GTA-qv8pk I've watched 100 video's on how to set it up and use it.. I still can't. I got parts of it down, but. I can't get it to look like the PS3 setup everyone uses. I can't get it to find all my roms either

[@GTA-qv8pk]

@@joeywilbur9182 I can download the app that's as far as I can get.

[@joeywilbur9182]

@@GTA-qv8pk Lol yeah that's the easy part. To the ones on here, it's what they know, so it comes easy to them

[@Dee_Lopez]

I agree retroarch is not as easy as people make it seem. It takes a lot of tinkering and getting used to the language. I prefer the emulator and rom, going into a settings changing the graphics or frames or buttons. Idk people can’t just keep it simple.

[@Nikos_rebetis]

Thanks for this guide. May be i missed it but can you give more details about what is possible to emulate with Android version below 11, ( 10 and 9). Thx for the job.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Hi, so the Android version won't actually affect what a device can emulate, it's more about the chipset inside the device. So the same device will mostly run the same even if it is on Android 9, 10, 11, and so on.

[@Nikos_rebetis]

@@RetroGameCorps ah ok. In this case can you please precise which chipset specs allows to emulate PS2 and GameCube for example?

[@gcm4156]

yay new rgc video

[@JuanGuillermoSanchezPerez]

really good video

[@alembick]

Tired of waiting for a Steam Deck and Ayn Odin Pro so I bought a Poco F3 8GB 256GB and a 2021 gamesir x2 controller. Paid £315 and I have to say it’s absolutely brilliant! PS2 runs great and it does 3DS GameCube and Wii too. Thanks Russ I used your guide and i got it working great even though it took me around 6 hours to sort. Also Launchbox is really worth the money as the front end you are paying so you don’t have to do much work to get a great result compared to the other frontends.

[@pokesouls8258]

Is there a possibility to for example use LaunchBox as your default launcher? So when I boot up my device, I don’t have the immersion breaking Android launcher? Also, can you start Android games directly from launchbox?

[@paddynliamo]

Appreciate all the effort you put in but your articles are hard to follow for new people. They don't explain how to organise your file library which would be super helpful for beginners!

[@jwcatalano3867]

Did you make any progress? Im trying my nest to follow along but I am struggling.

[@lucyrockets62]

My hidden gem show 😅

[@daxherring630]

do you really even need to download any emulators seperately if your gonna download retroarch? doesnt it already have most in it?

[@fable2830]

Yes because some standalones like citra or ppsspp or dolphine have better features and optimization for emulating those consoles it's normally recommended to get standalone emulators for PSP, N64 sds, PS2, GameCube and ds because there are emulators that give better profermance and optimization for them than retro arch

[@KaraokeDuov2]

Except my friend, you didn't mention Pegasus would direct you to the Plat Store for certain paid pro emulators.

[@Desmondous]

Hey There mate! I love the video and I'm working on setting up my RG505 now! I just had a quick question! I noticed you mentioned that you were going to add a recommended list of BIOS files to the written guide and I can't seem to find it, am I looking at the right guide? Android Emulation Starter Guide?

[@japanesemickeymouse6694]

I have the dual screen case for this phone ds emulation is dope on it with drastic you can use both screens like a DS it was confusing at first to set up

[@RetroGameCorps]

That sounds awesome!

[@japanesemickeymouse6694]

@@RetroGameCorps Unfortunately I think its a extra 100.00 :(

[@MilkLegScoop]

Just got a Razer Edge 5G. Hopefully t his guide works well in 2023.

[@MrNadav1995]

I really want to set this up with my phone but I will have to buy a few accessories to make the experience equivalent of something that costs way less and probably provides me with a more enjoyable experience (pocket2+)

[@NotoriouslyBSIG]

Thank you!

[@mansourdumol7799]

Great apps broh.. keep growing

[@alfredo.luquerini]

Another great video. Thanks. Having some problems with rewind and fast-forward features on Retroarch. I don't know if this is some Android 11 issue or if is some Google Pixel 6 issue.

[@MuSauronsAuge]

Hey, Great Video! I also want to ask if it possible to play Koop/Splitscreengames on a Set up like this :) ?

[@RetroGameCorps]

Sure, you could play any game that originally had co-op or split screen. For example, you could connect two controllers and then play Mario Kart SNES in split screen via RetroArch.

[@MuSauronsAuge]

Thank u for ur fast answer ☺️

[@CapnKirk7]

This is an incredible guide. Love all of your stuff. Question as a absolute beginner and contemplating something like this: Is there a reason why this can't be done one someone's daily driver phone? It seems a lot of people intend for this to be a separate device but what if I already have a powerful android phone? Thanks!

[@prototypep4]

I really wish he had answered this. I have a redmagic 9 pro+ coming as my new daily driver and was thinking of getting the gamesir g8 and setting something like this up on it. Maybe there's a custom way to swap it into "emulator mode" and back to daily driver mode?

[@alifrog]

​@prototypep4 I feel like you can set up Daijisho but don't make it your default launcher 🎉 if you open it up it'll be your "emulator mode" and exiting it will bring you back to your daily driver phone :D

[@everettrantanen1732]

I like RetroX frontend....no setup finds everything for you but does need internet connectivity.

[@alfredgiansarmiento8469]

Russ, please make one for Huawei phones.

[@cameronvandygriff7048]

This makes me wish i knew about software because i feel like itd be awesome to flash a switch lite and install android OS

[@japanesemickeymouse6694]

you should get the dual screen case drastic emulator works with both screens its a little tricky to set up though

[@boburanus69]

v60 is a great choice.

[@dariofinoli6778]

great video! is it possible to have two bluetooth controllers to play 2-player games with this setup?

[@workaholick]

Thank you....

[@Zee-bo1jb]

Will this guide work for the powkiddy a20 as well? Great guide btw!

[@jordanWAH]

Man, I miss LG phones😢. The best possible Android experience, and I'll die on this hill! Everything is customizable. My new samsung devices are nice, but I enjoyed the lg front-end software so much more.

[@PS2GAMER100]

Yeah they had the best phones and sucks they left the smartphone business but currently have the LG G8 and it is a great phone and runs most ps2 games full speed

[@mickeykat92]

Ok i'm very confused and I'm still in the begining. I mounted a brand new sd card into my tabled. And it didn't ask anything. It popped a notification to "open" and when i click on it it takes me to the interface where i see preinstalled folders within the card. Like alarms, android, audiobooks, dcim, movies etc. Any help please?

[@robmalcolm8042]

Good deal on that lg phone man it has great specs for the price I’m looking around for higher chip than a Samsung note 10+ it has 855 and 12gb ram runs really well but the screen got messed up and it’s very expensive to fix since it used to be a flagship. I’m ready to try that altstore on iPhone 13 since it seems it can emulate well as well and got my old pixel xl that I use still too I just want a chip higher than 855 for emulation

[@johnhschuster]

Thanks!

[@NeroVingian40]

Which mobile controller attachment would you recommend getting; Razer Kishi, Backbone or this Gamesir one you have here? All 3 seems good, I don't know which one to choose.

[@RetroGameCorps]

The Backbone is only available on iPhone, and I like that one the best. I hope they come out with an Android version. Between the Kishi and the GameSir X2, I prefer the GameSir by far -- it's more comfortable and sturdier.

[@NeroVingian40]

@@RetroGameCorps ah, I didn't know Backbone is iPhone only, I've only heard about it. Thank you!

[@andrehaugvaldstad]

Interesting video regardless, but the title is somewhat misleading. I came here looking for information on Android emulators (as in; software that emulates Android) for Windows. This is more of a console emulation on Android guide, not Android emulation.